Along with warmer, drier weather, the onset of spring brings construction. Work has commenced on several large apartment buildings in Bellingham, with more to come as the year progresses.
As of the week of April 1, there were 797 units of housing under construction within the city, with 493 of those being multi-family units, according to the city’s development dashboard.
However, Bellingham Development Services Manager Kurt Nabbefeld said that with the uncertainty in financing, interest rates, new tariffs, and material and labor costs, the city planning department is seeing “an uptick in requests for extensions of permits or folks putting their projects on hold.”
More housing needed
The City of Bellingham is attempting to incentivize construction of new units to meet growth needs and address a critical shortage in housing stock. In 2023, only 422 units were permitted, and 534 in 2024, down from almost 1,300 in 2021.
Bellingham’s lack of supply is one of several factors driving up the cost of housing. Based on state Department of Commerce population projections, Whatcom County will need 34,377 housing units by 2045, with Bellingham potentially responsible for approximately 920 of those new units per year.
Only one of the multi-family projects currently underway in the city has an affordable housing element: the 65-unit, four-story Bellis Fair Family Housing in north Bellingham. It’s the first phase of the Opportunity Council’s Bellis Fair project and will provide homes for families at or below 60% of adjusted median income, with 20% of the units reserved for families exiting homelessness, and another 20% reserved for families with a disabled family member. Phase two of the project — 64 units for seniors — is expected to begin construction in 2026.
Many affordable housing projects are happening elsewhere in the county or are in earlier phases of development. And while it’s not technically a multi-family project, LaFreniere Court, a Birchwood neighborhood project by Kulshan Community Land Trust, broke ground in March and will provide 18 permanently affordable homeownership opportunities by spring 2026.
Market-rate housing
Also coming to north Bellingham is the 79-unit, four-story Skyline at Cordata apartment complex, under construction at the corner of Meadowbrook Court and Cordata Parkway.
Downtown, progress is being made on the 111-unit, six-story State Street Creamery condominium building on State Street next to the roundabout. State Street Creamery, named in a nod to the dairy building that once stood on the parcel, is a project by The RJ Group, a development company responsible for more than a few large residential projects in Whatcom and Skagit counties.
Construction started in March on the 84-unit, six-story Old Town Heights apartment building, the first market-rate housing in the ambitious Old Town District redevelopment project. The Old Town District is one of Bellingham’s seven urban villages, which is designed to offer a mix of residential and commercial development.
The former industrial area went underutilized for years.Old Town poses some risks to developers due to its location in the historically contaminated Holly Street Landfill Site and the proximity of the railroad.To enable redevelopment and usher in the area’s transformation, the city and county are paying for infrastructure improvements in Old Town.
In Fairhaven, the 27-unit, three-story Fairhaven Center West Building is being developed on the site of the free gravel parking lot on the corner of Mill Avenue and 11th Street known as “the pit.” It’ll be the first of three buildings on the property.
In 2024, Dominion Sustainable Development Corporation and the city negotiated a development agreement to ensure public benefit in exchange for taller buildings. According to the agreement, at least 20% of the units in the Fairhaven Center will be affordable housing for 12 years (although none of the first 27 units are affordable); there will be 80 stalls of underground public parking in addition to what’s required for residents; and the South Bay Trail that extends onto private property will be dedicated in perpetuity and will be expanded with a public overlook
During construction, the trail will be closed between Taylor Dock and Fairhaven and most or all of the pit will be closed to public use.
Other projects
Other multi-family projects underway, or soon to begin, include the 16-unit Garden Apartments in Sehome, the 8-unit High Street Apartments in York, the 18-unit Waterfront Lofts near Hotel Bellwether, the 17-unit 146 Prince in Meridian, the 19-unit Sunset Apartments in Barkley and the 36-unit Rouvali Apartments in Columbia.Further down the line, more projects are in the midst of design review, planning approval or permitting.
On the small end of the housing spectrum, the city planning department is continuing to see an uptick in accessory dwelling unit applications. Between 2018 and 2022 the city averaged 50 applications per year but is on track to see 148 in 2025. Subdivisions are on the rise as well; in 2022 and 2023, about 70 new lots were created each year, while 152 lots were created in 2024.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
