Olympic Hills Tiny House Village opens with 45 units in Lake City

Olympic Hills Tiny House Village opened its gates in Lake City at 3121 NE 133rd St, offering 45 enhanced shelter tiny houses designed for individuals, couples and people with pets. LIHI’s units measure 8 feet by 12 feet, are insulated and come with electricity, heat and A/C, and the project is staffed around the clock with 24/7 case management aimed at transitioning residents to permanent housing.

The Low Income Housing Institute operates the village in partnership with Purpose. Dignity. Action., and PDA’s CoLEAD care model will be paired with LIHI’s shelter program and relocate its operation to the North Seattle village. CoLEAD is described as an evidence-based approach that connects people to case management and supportive services; clients at Olympic Hills agree to a code of conduct and receive comprehensive case management and housing assistance on site.

Site infrastructure includes a fenced perimeter for privacy and security, three staff offices, a kitchen and gathering space, a hygiene trailer with bathroom and shower facilities, and a laundry room. LIHI announced a grand opening event for Thursday, February 19 at 2:30pm at the Lake City address, and the village will explicitly serve people currently living outdoors in Lake City as well as those with pets.

Funding for Olympic Hills came in part from a city budget allocation that Councilmember Robert "Bob" Kettle included last year to cover costs for two new tiny house villages, and LIHI acknowledges a contribution from Wellpoint Washington toward the cost of 20 tiny houses. Erica C. Barnett has written that LIHI worked to secure nearly $6 million in Seattle’s 2025 budget for tiny house villages, describing $3 million as "more than half" of that funding and saying the other half funded Olympic Hills.

The opening coincided with city-level moves to speed shelter production: Mayor Katie Wilson signed two ordinances the same week intended to remove regulatory barriers and expedite permitting, and city leaders said those changes could shorten development timelines by five to 12 months and help reach a goal of opening 1,000 emergency housing units this year. Mayor Wilson said at the celebration, "We are accelerating the approaches and funding pathways that will allow shelters like this one to come online faster." City officials also made clear that the recent permitting changes did not affect the Olympic Hills project.

The new village arrives amid ongoing funding disputes involving LIHI: the King County Regional Homelessness Authority rescinded a $3 million grant it had given LIHI for a separate 60-unit project, a decision that LIHI’s leadership has publicly contested even as LIHI continues to open villages in Tukwila and pursue a combined RV safe lot and tiny-house site in West Seattle. LIHI Executive Director Sharon Lee framed the opening and the ongoing work in stark terms: "We are thrilled to open Olympic Hills Village and to partner with Purpose. Dignity. Action. on a tiny house village that will shelter up to 45 people, including individuals living outdoors in Lake City. We wish to thank Councilmember Bob Kettle and the Seattle City Council for their leadership in funding more villages. We appreciate Wellpoint Washington for contributing to the cost for 20 tiny houses. In 2025, LIHI sheltered 1,663 people in warm and safe tiny houses. Tiny houses save lives."

The village opens against a countywide backdrop LIHI cites from the January 2024 Point-in-Time count: 16,868 people experiencing homelessness in King County, of whom 9,810 were living unsheltered. Olympic Hills adds 45 units of enhanced shelter and a bundled service model intended to shorten residents’ stays in unsheltered settings and move them into permanent housing.