Puyallup needs to add more than 7,400 homes in the next 20 years. Here’s the plan
The city of Puyallup took a step to bring more affordable housing to the area in the coming years.
The Puyallup City Council unanimously voted Dec. 5 during a council meeting to expand its Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) program to other areas of the city.
The state Department of Commerce created the MFTE program in 1995. It is a tax incentive to build affordable housing. This program allows developers to apply for and get property tax exemptions for a certain amount of time.
Puyallup has an 8-year and 12-year option developers can choose. Previously, the city’s MFTE program only covered some parts of downtown.
Puyallup’s program has been around since 2003.
“We haven’t seen many bites from developers on it,” city spokesperson Eric Johnson told The News Tribune. “I think we only had maybe a couple that happened downtown.”
Johnson said he thinks the program has only been used twice. It was used for the downtown building that houses the Senior Activity Center and for the condo building near Giorgio’s Greek Cafe, he said.
The program is now available in more parts of downtown, South Hill and the River Road corridor. As of Jan. 8, the city hasn’t yet gotten interest from developers in the expanded program.
City Planning Manager Katie Baker told The News Tribune every city in Pierce County has a growth target — dictated by the state — that they are expected to accommodate. Puyallup has a moderate to high housing growth target, she said.
The city has 18,106 housing units so far. The city needs 7,482 more units by 2044.
Johnson said the goal is doable.
“This is another tool in the toolkit that we can use to spur development and get developers interested in bringing housing to the city,” Johnson said.
The News Tribune reported in August 2023 that the city is also looking to expand opportunities for “missing middle” housing. This type of housing includes duplexes, triplexes, town homes and cottage homes.
Pierce County needs 111,511 more housing units by 2044 to accommodate the county’s population growth, The News Tribune reported.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with information about which projects have used Puyallup’s MFTE program.
This story was originally published January 14, 2024 at 5:15 AM.
