Three Tacoma neighborhoods will get new affordable housing after the Pierce County Council unanimously approved about $11.4 million in grants on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

The vote funds five projects in Tacoma and DuPont for low-income residents, seniors and people experiencing homelessness, as first reported by The News Tribune. Three of the five are in Tacoma.

The largest Tacoma award, about $3.5 million, goes to Lincoln Family Housing, a Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) project at 3727 Park Ave. S. in the Lincoln District. The 72-unit development will include studios and one- to three-bedroom apartments, with units reserved for households earning 30%, 40% and 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Eighteen of those units are set aside for people experiencing homelessness, including five Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing units and 10 Apple Health and Home units, according to council records.

The council also approved $2 million for Bethlehem House of Bread, a 43-unit project on land owned by Bethlehem Baptist Church at 4818 E. Portland Ave. in Eastside Tacoma. Those one- and two-bedroom units will serve households at 50% and 60% AMI.

A third Tacoma project, Mason on Madison Family Housing, received $952,000 to build 99 units in the Proctor District on land owned by Mason United Methodist Church. Mercy Housing Northwest, the developer, had requested more than $9 million from the county. The project includes one- to four-bedroom units, with 10 reserved for people experiencing homelessness and 10 for people with disabilities.

At 60% AMI, a family of four earning up to $72,480 or a single person earning up to $50,760 could qualify, according to The News Tribune.

The money comes from the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Act, a 0.1% sales tax Pierce County passed in 2023. The tax adds 10 cents to every $100 spent, with groceries, medicine and hygiene products exempt. As of May 2026, the tax had generated more than $33 million, according to the county's program page.

Beyond Tacoma, the council approved $4.9 million for the Fairway at DuPont, a 113-unit apartment complex at 900 Garry Oaks Ave. for households at or below 60% AMI. It also approved $111,200 for the Foundation for the Challenged to acquire and rehabilitate two group homes for six tenants with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Pierce County.

Demand far outstripped supply. Eleven applications sought a combined $35.8 million. County Human Services staff ranked proposals on unit production, project readiness, financial viability and agency track record before recommending the winners.

Five Tacoma projects were denied funding, including Great Expectations' proposed 131-unit Arbutus House downtown, LIHI's Aspen Court hotel conversion in South Tacoma and the Pierce County Housing Authority's Hidden Village senior housing rehabilitation.

Since the sales tax took effect, 1,545 affordable homes have been built or preserved countywide, according to The News Tribune. Pierce County Council Chair Jani Hitchen, in a September 2025 statement when the council approved an earlier $12.2 million round, called the fund "a dedicated, sustainable source of funding to address one of Pierce County's greatest needs."

Pierce County needs more than 100,000 new housing units by 2044 to meet projected growth, with about 77,000 of those needed for low-income households, The News Tribune has reported.

Pierce County has not announced groundbreaking dates or construction timelines for any of the three Tacoma projects.