The City’s financial analysis found that even if it sold the land and used its revenue to build affordable housing somewhere else, it would still net fewer affordable units than the current proposal. This is due to the high cost of land on Bainbridge Island. Because the City is retaining ownership of the land it dramatically reduces development costs.

In addition, LIHI will be competing statewide for limited Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) dollars to finance the project. Given the proximity to public transit, employers, and schools, as well as the optimal scale feasible for the site, this location is the most competitive for a successful funding application.

YES.  In late 2023 / early 2024, the City considered several alternatives, including selling of the 625 Winslow site to develop affordable housing elsewhere, and determined that this site was the most effective one to bring affordable housing to Bainbridge.  See more in the one-pager here.

The two other City-owned properties that would have potential for Affordable Housing are Waterfront Park and Suzuki (southeast corner of New Brooklyn and Sportsman Club roads). 

• At the City Council Business Meeting on August 27, 2019, the Council approved moving forward with a site plan for the property that included 100 total housing units: 39 for sale units, 60 rental units, and 1 manager unit. Of these, 70 units were planned as single family units and 30 (within the rental units) were planned as accessory dwelling units.
• The Suzuki project faced strong public opposition and was removed as a City Council priority in June 2020 and subsequently abandoned. 

The City is working on an authorized project on property that we own.  Buying another property would mean a property with a willing seller would have to be identified, the cost to Island residents would likely increase (e.g. raised taxes, bonds), and this approach would delay providing housing to low and moderate income people on Bainbridge Island.  

YES.  See a copy of the Traffic Impact Analysis completed by Heath & Associates in August, 2024. This traffic survey was run under the scenario of adding 100 dwelling units at this site (more than currently proposed).  The consultant produced a comprehensive 86-page report that concluded the impacts are not significant.

In particular, the study found that during the Peak Ferry Hours 7-8 am and 4-5 pm where traffic surges and creates momentary higher delays, the intersection will still operate within its capacity with the addition of 100 housing units.

It should also be noted that traffic peaks during commuting hours – however, the purpose of the building is for workers in downtown Winslow to be able to walk to their jobs, meaning they would not be adding to traffic congestion at peak hours.

Well-designed.  There are no specific detailed plans yet.  A Request for Qualifications will ask qualified developers to submit their interest and qualifications for this project, subject to approval by City Council.  Details on the design won't occur until a private development partner has started their design phase - targeted for 2026.

The City of Bainbridge Island will retain the ownership of the parcel at 625 Winslow Way and 180 Olympic Drive. 

LIHI is an affordable housing developer and property manager and will be working with the City in this capacity. The current approved agreement between LIHI and the City covers the funding, construction and management of the project. Check out their project webpage for more Questions & Answers about this Project.

The City of Bainbridge Island has committed $3,000,000 for the project (see the Development Agreement). The funding comes from the Affordable Housing Fund, which may only be used for expenses related to affordable housing. The City is not considering any new tax to fund the ongoing operations of the LIHI project. Any additional funding for LIHI would require an amendment to the Master Development Plan or an amendment to the City’s budget. In both cases, the expenditures would be approved by the City Council. 

The City is working on a groundwater management plan, which is currently in a draft phase.  The draft will be peer reviewed and is also open for public comments.  This plan includes population growth estimates.  As a point of reference, the “low population growth” scenario is 315 people per year.  In 2024, the estimated population on Bainbridge Island grew by 200 people (April 1 Official Population Estimates, 2025).

Affordable Housing Programs across the country must compete with each other for Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) dollars. The site at 625 Winslow Way provides the most competitive affordable housing project on City-owned land, considering:

• Located in a "High Opportunity Zone" with walkability to
  • Public Transit
  • Bainbridge Employers
  • Daily living services
  • Excellent schools
• Project unit scale is optimal
• Beautiful location for well designed, affordable, apartments with commercial space on the ground floor for all islanders and visitors to enjoy.

In late 2023 / early 2024, the City considered several alternatives, including selling of the 625 Winslow site to develop affordable housing elsewhere, and determined that this site was the most effective one to bring affordable housing to Bainbridge.  See more in the one-pager here.

A Title Report and Survey were obtained for 625 Winslow Way, as is customarily done as part of an early site evaluation process. 

Affordable Housing has unanimously been identified as a critical need for Bainbridge Island by:

• National Community Survey Results (2022)
  • Bainbridge Island scored in the bottom 3% of the national benchmark for availability of affordable housing
• Housing Action Plan adopted by City Council (2023)
  • "Bainbridge is losing its sense of being a multi-generational and diverse community"
  • 79% of surveyed workers who do not live on Bainbridge Island said they would if they could afford it
  • High housing cost, property taxes, and a limited range of housing types have displaced and burdened residents on Bainbridge Island
• Bainbridge Island Community Foundation (2023)
  • Identified Affordable Housing as a significant issue
  • Only 3% of the over 11,000 housing units on the Island are considered affordable or income-restricted
• Bainbridge Island City Council, voted representatives of City of Bainbridge Island residents
• House Bill 1220
  • In 2021, the state legislature changed the Growth Management Act (GMA) to require local governments to amend their Comprehensive Plan to accommodate housing units assigned to the city by income.  This assignment of housing units will be made by the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council based upon the number of housing units assigned to Kitsap County.

YES.  In 2021, the Washington State Legislature passed House Bill 1220 to address the statewide housing crisis. The law amended the Growth Management Act (GMA), raising the standard for housing planning: cities must now plan for and accommodate housing affordable at all income levels, not just encourage it.

City legal analysis (Appendix 2) confirms that Bainbridge Island is subject to the housing growth targets required under HB 1220.

What this means for Bainbridge

• HB 1220 has significant implications for the Winslow Subarea Plan and the island-wide Comprehensive Plan update.
• The law requires Bainbridge to plan for housing across all economic segments, with a focus on low- to moderate-income households.
• The City developed a Housing Action Plan (HAP), a planning tool that identifies strategies to improve affordability, diversity, and stability.
• The HAP builds on the work of the Affordable Housing Task Force (2018), which concluded that Bainbridge was becoming “an increasingly exclusive and rarified place to live” and called for action to preserve community diversity.
• Through research and engagement led by Triangle Associates and ECONorthwest, the HAP identifies community values, housing needs, and policy opportunities that align with HB 1220.
• City Council adopted the HAP in 2023, providing a roadmap for meeting affordable housing needs.

Why HB 1220 compliance matters

If the City fails to comply with HB 1220’s growth targets, the City will be ineligible for many important state and regional funding programs.  Additionally, the City would eventually be ordered to comply with HB 1220, essential affordable housing would not have been built in the interim, and the City would likely need to put in place more aggressive measures to catch up on housing production to comply with the HB 1220 targets.

Bainbridge Island’s designation as a sole source aquifer means our community water supply gets special environmental protections. But this designation does not exempt us from state housing laws like HB 1220.

 That’s because the two laws cover different things:

• Sole source aquifer rules protect water quality and guide how development is reviewed to safeguard our drinking water.
• HB 1220 is a statewide housing law that requires every city to plan for enough housing for all income levels.

In other words, we must do both: protect our aquifer and plan for housing. Other housing laws, like the Middle Housing bill (HB 1110) and the Accessory Dwelling Unit bill (HB 1337), do have exemptions for sole source aquifers. HB 1110 is focused just on where certain housing types, like duplexes or fourplexes, must be allowed. HB 1220, on the other hand, is about the bigger picture, how local governments plans for future housing needs, and applies everywhere with no exceptions. 

NO. The City of Bainbridge Island will not be responsible for bailing out this project or raising taxes to support it. The issues Seattle housing providers face are not applicable to Bainbridge Island. Here’s why:

• Eviction moratoria only exists in Seattle. In 2020 and 2021 Seattle passed local laws establishing a moratorium on evictions during much of the year. If a tenant stops paying rent, the eviction process takes significantly longer, causing buildings to financially go into the red. LIHI’s Executive Director, Sharon Lee, even penned an Op-Ed in the Seattle Times on Nov 11th, 2024 calling for the City of Seattle to relax these requirements: “Seattle’s winter eviction moratorium is endangering affordable housing.” 
• Each building is financially independent. LIHI structures every property as its own legal entity, such as a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), with separate financing. If one building experiences challenges, it does not put LIHI as a whole—or the City of Bainbridge—at financial risk.
• Bainbridge has very low vacancy rates. Unlike Seattle, where vacancy rates have risen as high as 7% that translates to lower rent collections, Bainbridge has a shortage of rental housing and consistently low vacancies around 1–2%. This is largely because so few apartments have been built on the Island over the last decade. This is a significant difference, and an indicator that leasing up 625 Winslow Way with income qualified tenants should be far easier than in the Seattle housing market. This will result in a financially stable building.
• Tenants are carefully screened. Affordable housing funded through tax credits requires strict income and employment verification before tenants move in. What is happening in Seattle is that post-pandemic tenants who lost their jobs during the pandemic often secured new jobs at lower pay, resulting in systemic rent arrears. This will not be an issue at 625 Winslow Way, short of another once in a generation pandemic occurring, as the building will require rigorous income verification before a tenant can move in, which makes the property financially sound.

In short, what has caused stress for some housing providers in Seattle—like eviction moratoria and high vacancies—does not apply to Bainbridge Island. For all of these reasons it is very reasonable to expect that 625 Winslow Way will be a financially successful affordable housing building that will allow workers to live in the community where they work.

LIHI is in strong financial health and is in an excellent position to develop 625 Winslow Way. LIHI consistently operates in the black, maintain solid cash reserves, and year after year have positive revenue. The sale of a few properties was not a sign of distress, but a strategic decision to let go of older less efficient buildings and reinvest in more impactful housing opportunities. None of the buildings LIHI sold were our multifamily apartments, but small single family homes. 

The Seattle Times article described how both nonprofit and for-profit developers are selling properties in Seattle and the challenges they face. In LIHI’s case, LIHI sold two single-family houses in the University District to the YMCA, which is expanding its U-District branch next door to better serve the community. The proceeds helped us build a new 100-unit workforce housing development in North Seattle. LIHI is transitioning away from operating scattered single-family houses as transitional housing—an older model that government agencies no longer prioritize—so that LIHI can focus on permanent, cost-effective affordable multifamily housing much like 625 Winslow Way. 

Today LIHI owns and operates more than 80 properties with over 3,600 units across the Puget Sound region. For all of LIHI’s multifamily housing they have consistently met each loan obligation and paid our lenders on time for each property, despite the challenging market and regulatory conditions that are unique to the City of Seattle. The small property sales have actually strengthened our portfolio and allowed us to add new, larger buildings that meet today’s needs. 

NO. The City of Bainbridge Island will retain ownership of the land beneath the building, which means the City ultimately controls the property’s long-term use. LIHI will hold only a long-term ground lease, not the land itself. In addition, public and private funders — such as low-income housing tax credit investors — require strict covenants and regulatory agreements that ensure the housing remains affordable for decades, typically 44 to 99 years. These legal agreements prevent conversion to market-rate housing or sale to a for-profit.

No, this project is not “homeless housing”. The housing will be affordable to working people or income qualified seniors, where half the units will be eligible for someone earning up to 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI), and the other half up to 60% AMI. Households will need to verify their income is 2.5X higher than the rent to qualify to live here.

Generally speaking, workers that would qualify based on their income levels would include grocery clerks, bakery managers, optometric technicians, healthcare managers, cooks, landscapers, restaurant waitstaff, or carpenters.

If an existing tenant gets a pay raise that is above the 60% AMI income limit they can not be required to move out.

No. This project provides housing for households that meet the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) financial criteria for housing at 50% or 60% of the Area Median Income. In addition to the above, the project will carry a private loan from a bank that will require debt service. For the project to maintain solvency, LIHI will need rents at the levels LIHI committed to above. The current proposal requires half of the units to be designated for households earning 50% AMI, and the other half 60% AMI.

In other words, if LIHI moves in homeless households with zero or very low-income into units meant for someone earning up to 50% AMI ($43,550/year), the building would default on its loans and be out of compliance with the tax credit program which is highly regulated.

Tenants will be income-qualified up to 80% County Area Median Income (AMI), as long as the average tenant income is no greater than 60% AMI (targeting workforce housing tenants in the 50-60% AMI range). 60% AMI for a 3-person household in Kitsap County = $58,860 (2025 values).

If an existing tenant gets a pay raise that is above the 60% AMI income limit they will not be required to move out.  

Bainbridge Island Employees that may qualify under this range (reference Zippia.com): 

The Area Media Income (AMI) is set by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) using local income data; Bainbridge Island falls under the Bremerton-Silverdale/Kitsap County Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2025 according to HUD 100% of the Area Median Income on Bainbridge is $124,300 per year for a four-person household.

This project would provide housing for people earning up to 50% or 60% of the Area Median Income, based on how many live in the household. 

No. The City of Bainbridge Island will continue to own the land even after the project is built. This will guarantee the City has ultimate control on how the land is used in the long term, and ensure the building operator is fulfilling all of its obligations.

The City selected the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) through a competitive bid to develop the property out of six other developers who applied. By having the City retain land ownership it will significantly reduce the overall cost for the project and provide the most effective use of taxpayer dollars to develop the site into affordable housing. 

Yes. The City ordered and received a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment Study. The conclusions of the report were positive and no concerns were raised. Specifically, the study found that there was no groundwater seepage on the site and a standard foundation for the building can be used without any piles in the ground. As the project continues to progress through the permitting process, an additional State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review will be required before the project can move forward. 

The City will have to make some decisions regarding the parking for the property. The City is considering requirements for a 1:1 ratio for each unit to have a parking spot, plus guest and commercial parking. This would add $2 million to construction costs, and require a large garage to be built.

However, there are a number of parking mitigation options that would avoid the need for a large and expensive parking garage. This can include an onsite carshare program that could count toward 3-4 housing units who would share a rented vehicle (like Zev, or Zipcar), and thus reduce the number of parking spots needed, or relaxing guest parking requirements, and allowing a few parking permits for resident use in the existing parking lot that is adjacent to the building.

The City also has the option to reduce the parking standard from 1 space to 0.5 spaces per unit, which is the standard slightly larger cities are required to use across Washington State (SB 5184).

Currently the City is considering reducing the total affordable housing units from 90 units, to 72 units, rather than relaxing the parking requirements. By removing these housing units from the project, fewer parking spots would be required.

As-of December 2025, the City has held approximately 20 meetings open for public comment or community input, starting in 2022. The City has commissioned impact studies, including a site analysis by ECONorthwest that was presented to the Council on November 8th, 2022. The Council approved permits to clear the existing site in 2023 and conducted a financial feasibility study for developing affordable housing on the site in 2024.

On April 15th, 2024, the City held a community Questions & Answer session to educate the public on the project and to seek community input. The City made available its commissioned Traffic Impact Analysis in August 2024.

On May 29th, 2025 LIHI hosted a Community Listening Session at Bainbridge Performing Arts and presented the 625 Winslow Way E. development. There were two weeks of engagement prior to this Community Listening Session to the businesses along Winslow Way and High School Road NE. Attendees were given an opportunity to share comments and ask questions.

There will be additional opportunities as LIHI will convene another Community Listening Session, and there are future meetings with public comment at the Planning Commission and City Council to ensure the proposal reflects community input.

If the City Council chooses the 90-unit building design it will be 45 feet tall if standing from Winslow Way E, shorter than the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art across the intersection. The building will have 4 stories total, with the ground floor for commercial or community space. If the City chooses a 72-unit building, it would be 3 stories tall. Given the slope of the property, the building will appear higher from Olympic Drive, where there is a public plaza being planned.

The design of the building has been intentionally left incomplete, because LIHI is still collecting community feedback to ensure the building design reflects local preferences and the existing neighborhood aesthetic. As future community listening sessions are announced, LIHI will continue to refine the design and explore possibilities before final decisions are made. 

LIHI as a developer prioritizes community input into the design of its buildings and makes it a point to elevate neighborhood feedback in the design process. The public will have many opportunities to provide direct feedback to LIHI as the developer, as well as to the Planning Commission, the Design Review Board, and directly to the City Council. 

At a basic level the building will be either three or four stories, or 45 feet tall at its tallest. The land slopes down Olympic Drive, which will have green space and garden areas. The ground floor will have commercial or community space, including a "jewel box" element, that will be carved out of the corner to reduce the building's scale and complement the adjacent Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.

This project satisfies several Comprehensive Plan Housing Element Policies:

Policy HO 4.3 Partner with non-profit or for-profit housing sectors to create new multifamily housing in designated centers including a significant percentage of affordable housing through the joint or exclusive use of surplus publicly owned property or air space.

Policy HO 4.5 Remove barriers to the creation of new multifamily housing, particularly affordable housing through a variety of actions such as the adoption of regulations that “right-size” parking requirements, reduce certain impact fees and encourage the use of parking management programs to enable the more efficient use of parking.

Policy HO 9.5 Consider the options for making City-owned land or air-space available through long-term leases or other mechanisms for the purpose of creating income-qualified housing and support other public entities that wish to use publicly-owned land for this purpose. Take into consideration however, the full range of uses that City-owned properties may serve over the long-term.

Yes.  See the non-binding approved water and sewer availability letter issued by Public Works here.