Tukwila's 40-Unit Tiny House Village Opens to Shelter Families With Round-the-Clock Support

A 40-unit tiny house village on the grounds of Church by the Side of the Road in Tukwila completed construction March 11, 2026, and opened with an explicit mission that sets it apart from nearly every other THV in the region: housing families with children.

The village maintains a hygiene trailer on site and provides social services including workforce development and recovery services. The full site package includes a community kitchen, hygiene trailer with bathroom and shower facilities, laundry room, recreation space, three staff offices, and a security pavilion at the entrance. The village is staffed 24 hours a day to manage operations and ensure safety.

Although the idea of families living in a tiny house might surprise some, a program representative identified as Lee addressed the spatial question directly: "People will wonder, 'How can people live in a tiny house? It's 18 by 12 feet, it's heated, with air-conditioning, and just a common space.'" For larger households, the site has a practical solution. "Basically, we found that if we have a really large family, we will get them two tiny houses, so that they can have two side-by-side tiny houses," Lee said. The family focus also has a throughput advantage: "The families with children — we're able to get housing for them in some cases quicker, so they're spending less time in a THV," she added.

Residents sign a code of conduct and participate in case management to access supportive services, employment, and permanent housing. Program participants have access to case management services connecting them to housing, health care, education, employment, and behavioral health support.

The project did not come together easily. Tukwila Mayor Thomas McLeod described how he first learned of the church's stalled efforts: "I ran into Rev. Proctor's wife at the Costco parking lot, and she was telling me that they ran into a lot of red tape trying to get this off the ground. That was around Aug. 24. I started looking into it to find out what's holding this thing up. And then we just kept working through it."

The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), which partnered with CBSR on the development and now operates the village, holds a portfolio of more than 3,750 affordable apartments and sponsors 17 tiny house villages across King and Pierce counties, including three in Tukwila alone. CBSR Sr. Pastor Terrence Proctor framed the opening against the church's longer history. "Church By the Side of the Road Village is a wonderful reflection of our church's 94-year legacy of ministering to the needs of our Tukwila community and beyond," Proctor said. "What we can't do alone, we can do together!"

Following the opening ceremony, attendees toured the village in heavy rain. Mayor McLeod noted that the weather underscored the urgency of expanding shelter for people without stable housing. King County Executive Girmay Zahilay echoed that urgency in a statement: "Expanding available shelter is a core priority for my administration to break the cycle of homelessness, and we are acting with urgency to bring more people indoors with the services they need."

The project was made possible through coordination among the cities of SeaTac and Tukwila, King County, and the Washington State Department of Commerce. Tukwila and King County will provide ongoing funding to support village operations and services.