Title
Discuss Land Banking Strategies
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Discuss land banking strategies.
Report
Issue:
Whether to discuss land banking strategies.
Staff Contact:
Ashley Chambers, Housing Director, Community Development, 360.753.8033
Presenter(s):
Ashley Chambers, Housing Director, Community Development
Background and Analysis:
Land cost, availability, and timing can be significant barriers to affordable housing development. Strategic property acquisition and land banking provide communities with another tool to preserve sites, reduce development barriers, and create time to assemble financing and development partnerships.
Land Banking as a Housing Tool
Land banking is one tool within a broader affordable housing strategy. It may include acquiring and holding property, purchasing property for a specific project or partner, or strategically using existing publicly owned land. Although primarily considered here for affordable housing, these tools may also support mixed-use development, adaptive reuse, economic development, and other community priorities.
Olympia Considerations
Public acquisition is most appropriate when control of land meaningfully improves project feasibility, preserves a time-sensitive opportunity, or advances an identified public benefit. It may not be appropriate when there is no realistic development pathway, another entity can achieve the same outcome without City ownership, or costs and risks outweigh the anticipated benefit.
While the City of Olympia does not currently have a formal land banking program, it has used many elements of strategic property acquisition to advance affordable housing and community redevelopment. Previous efforts have included acquiring and transferring property, leveraging existing public land, providing acquisition assistance, partnering with nonprofit developers, using competitive development solicitations, and supporting adaptive reuse. Projects such as Unity Commons, Lotus Court, The Landing, Franz Anderson, 3900 Boulevard, Old 99, and The Gibson demonstrate different ways public land and investment have been used to reduce development barriers, preserve redevelopment opportunities, and leverage outside funding.
These efforts provide a strong foundation for a more coordinated approach. Rather than creating a traditional land bank focused primarily on acquiring and holding property, Olympia could formalize an overarching strategic property framework that evaluates existing public assets, potential acquisitions, opportunistic purchases, and development partner requests. Such a framework would build upon existing City practices while creating a consistent process for determining when public involvement is feasible and when it can most effectively advance Olympia's housing and economic development goals.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends a phased approach to evaluate strategic property acquisition and land banking as one tool within the City’s broader affordable housing strategy. Initial work would focus on understanding existing public assets and establishing a consistent framework for determining when City involvement in property acquisition or disposition provides a meaningful public benefit.
Proposed Phases
Phase 1 - Inventory and Evaluate Public Property
Develop an inventory of City-owned property and conduct a preliminary assessment of potential opportunities for affordable housing, mixed-use development, adaptive reuse, or other community priorities.
Phase 2 - Develop the Strategic Property Framework
Establish evaluation criteria, funding and financing options, partnership models, due diligence requirements, internal review procedures, and Council decision points for future opportunities.
Phase 3 - Build Partnerships and Identify Opportunities
Coordinate with housing providers, developers, housing authorities, public agencies, and other partners to identify development needs and potential acquisition or redevelopment opportunities.
Phase 4 - Implement and Evaluate
Apply the framework to opportunities as they arise, determine the appropriate City role on a project-by-project basis, and periodically evaluate outcomes and refine the approach.
Both the public land inventory and development of a strategic framework require coordination across multiple departments and would need to be balanced against existing Council priorities, statutory planning work, grant-funded activities, and current staff responsibilities. Based on the preliminary phased approach, either foundational effort could require approximately six to nine months and would likely be completed incrementally. Expansion of the inventory to other public agencies would require additional time and coordination.
Climate Analysis:
The Climate Framework identifies Transportation and Land Use and Buildings and Energy as the areas most relevant to strategic property acquisition. A strategic property framework could support climate goals by prioritizing affordable housing and redevelopment near transit, services, and existing infrastructure and by considering adaptive reuse and energy-efficient development. Because this item establishes a framework rather than approving a specific property or project, no direct greenhouse gas impact is anticipated at this stage; impacts would be evaluated as individual opportunities are considered.
Equity Analysis:
Housing affordability is a significant equity issue in Olympia, particularly for low- and moderate-income households. Approximately 52% of Olympia renter households are housing cost burdened, and the City is projected to need an additional 7,616 housing units serving households at 0-80% AMI by year 2045. Strategic property acquisition and land banking could help advance equity by preserving land for affordable housing and increasing housing opportunities for households disproportionately affected by housing costs, displacement, homelessness, and barriers to homeownership. Equity considerations should be incorporated into future property evaluations, including affordability levels, displacement risk, geographic distribution of affordable housing, accessibility, and who ultimately benefits from public investment. Specific equity impacts would be evaluated as individual properties and projects are considered.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
No specific neighborhood outreach has been conducted related to development of a strategic property acquisition or land banking framework, as no individual property or development project is currently proposed. However, community input gathered through prior City housing planning efforts has consistently identified housing affordability, housing supply, displacement, and access to housing as community concerns. Future consideration of specific properties would include appropriate neighborhood and community engagement based on the location, proposed use, and potential impacts of the project in alignment with City planning processes.
Financial Impact:
Staff recommendations will require staff time but no additional financial resources at this time. If the City pursues future property acquisition, land banking, due diligence, predevelopment, or other activities to support affordable housing, those actions may incur costs. Funding sources and financial impacts would need to be identified and evaluated on a case-by-case basis before proceeding.
Options:
1. Discuss land banking strategies.
1. Do not discuss land banking strategies.
2. Provide other direction to staff.
Attachments:
Land Banking Brief