The Olympia Design Review Board approved the Fieldstone Apartments project, a 272-unit affordable housing development, with four key recommendations for improvement.
The board requested additional pedestrian access points along 9th Avenue, including more fence openings and internal sidewalks to improve circulation between buildings.
The board also called for more clearly defined pedestrian entrances, specifically asking for architectural elements that create a more welcoming courtyard entry.
Developers will also need to address building modulation, particularly on the side walls of the recreation building and several apartment buildings, to break up large, flat wall surfaces.
The board suggested adding architectural details to the carriage-style housing units, such as distinctive lighting fixtures or exterior materials, to create more visual consistency with other buildings on the site.
Darton Riely-Gibbons, of AKS Engineering and Forestry, presented the Fieldstone Apartments project to the Design Review Board on Thursday, May 8.
The project, located at 3090 9th Ave. SW, is a 9.7-acre site spanning two zoning districts — Medical Service and Professional Office/Residential Multifamily designations. The proposal calls for 272 apartment units.
The project includes a diverse mix of one to five-bedroom units distributed across 15 residential buildings and a recreational center.
Riely-Gibbons mentioned the project's key features, including 2.2 acres of landscaping, a 1.2-acre soil and vegetative protective area, and 435 parking stalls.
Seth Terry, the project architect, said the number of parking spaces was based on the 1.6 ratio of stalls to units.
"This is based on a fairly long history of traffic and parking studies that have been done for these types of projects," Terry said.
He added that a parking ratio of around 1.6 gives enough parking for residents, guests and staff who are working there to comfortably find parking spaces close to the units they are leasing.
The presentation also detailed two primary building types: four-story walk-up buildings and carriage-style duplex homes with ground-level parking.
The four-story walk-up buildings are larger structures with residential units on all four floors. These buildings are designed to accommodate a variety of unit sizes, ranging from one to four bedrooms. Nine of the walk-up buildings are planned across the site, with some variations in width and configuration.
The carriage-style duplex homes offer a different approach to residential design. The buildings feature two levels of residential living above a ground-level parking area. Six of these units are proposed, with three located along the front edge of the site and three surrounding a central play area.
The ground floor serves as a parking level, while the upper two floors contain the living spaces.
The five-bedroom units are specifically housed in the carriage-style buildings, providing a larger housing option.
The unit mix across these building types are as follows:
One-bedroom: 88 units
Two-bedroom: 92 units
Three-bedroom: 52 units
Four-bedroom: 24 units
Five-bedroom: 16 units
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OlyKid88
What rental rate does the City of Olympia define as affordable?
According to the Housing Authority of Thurston County, the 2025 income limits for a two-person household are defined as:
Extremely Low Income (30% AMI): $27,050 annually
Very Low Income (50% AMI): $45,100 annually
Low Income (80% AMI): $72,150 annually
For a two-person household in Olympia, Washington, in 2025, affordable rent for a two-person household would be:
Extremely Low Income: Up to $676.25 per month
Very Low Income: Up to $1,127.50 per month
Low Income: Up to $1,803.75 per month
Monday, May 12 Report this
Southsoundguy
More dorms. Neato.
Monday, May 12 Report this
OvercastDays
What corner of 9th and Black Lake Blvd is this on? Google Maps places the address in the middle of the intersection. City of Olympia website’s construction page doesn’t seem to be operational to tell me either. Hmm…
Monday, May 12 Report this
DeaneTR
How can they submit a plan, or maybe how can you write an article about a plan submission without identifying the location? Is it the BofA property that currently is listed as 910 Black Lake Blvd SW? Or is it the address on the tip of that corner identified as 3309 while the property east of BofA is listed in the 2300's? How can we fairly evaluate the proposal if we can't even identify the location? Is this a failure of "Jolt News Staff" in the Philippines? Or is this a failure of the planning department? Or both?
Tuesday, May 13 Report this
JulesJames
Heartened to see more than 2 bedroom units. "Affordable" isn't a government-decided number. Affordable are floorplans that can accommodate families and housemates a couple of decades after these units are built.
Tuesday, May 13 Report this
GFelsen
Try 3909 9th Ave SW. Looks like a typo got past the editor.
Tuesday, May 13 Report this
DaveinOlyWA
5 bedroom homes? I think that is a bit of overkill. I think the mix should be less 4 and 5 bedroom, more 3 and 1 bedroom.
Tuesday, May 13 Report this
DudeInOlympia
lol DeaneTR, twas just a typo. 3909 9th Ave SW
Tuesday, May 13 Report this
OvercastDays
Oh, that clears it up. It’s a completely different stretch of 9th ave that I did not even know existed. I guess maybe the presence of Fieldstone Drive nearby should have been a good clue.
Tuesday, May 13 Report this