Island Roots Housing marks completion of 14-home Langley project

Fourteen new apartments in downtown Langley are about to open to workers and families who have been squeezed out of South Whidbey’s housing market. Island Roots Housing said Generations Place was nearly ready for its first residents, turning years of planning, fundraising and construction into a real set of homes at 2nd Street and DeBruyn Avenue.

The project includes 14 two- and three-bedroom apartments in three two-story buildings, aimed at households earning up to 60% and 80% of area median income. Island Roots said the homes were designed for working families such as educators, construction workers, retail employees, office managers and social-service providers, and built to fit Langley’s form-based code and the community’s need for multigenerational rentals.

The scale is modest against a stubborn shortage. Board President Chris Hurley said more than 10% of families in the South Whidbey School District area do not have stable housing, and more than half of renters are cost-burdened. Island Roots also points to a 2023 state housing report showing almost 12,000 Island County households are cost-burdened, while the nonprofit says almost 12% of people under 34 in Langley found rent unaffordable in 2022.

Around 100 people attended the June 9 ribbon cutting, including local leaders, donors, volunteers and project partners. Managing Director Rose Hughes called the opening the point when the building begins doing what it was created for: “welcoming people home.”

The project also showed how much private and public money it takes to produce even a small number of affordable homes on Whidbey. More than 500 local donors, businesses and foundations covered about 37% of the nearly $8 million cost, while the rest came from public sources including Island County, the Tri-County HUD HOME Consortium, the Washington State Department of Commerce and legislative funding. The county contributed $1 million in ARPA funds, and the state legislature previously earmarked $1.6 million for Generations Place in the 2024 budget.

The project did not move through Langley quietly. In March 2025, 36 residents signed a letter objecting to design details, and a later site-plan appeal delayed the project until the hearing examiner upheld the city’s approval. Island Roots and Goosefoot Community Fund have cast the development as a response to Whidbey’s housing crisis, and the completed project now tests whether a ribbon cutting can become a durable local model, not just a rare milestone.