Sound Transit enters into agreement with City of Seattle for temporary tiny home village in U District

Sound Transit has entered into an agreement with the City of Seattle to allow the City to lease a former construction site in the University District at no cost to build a temporary tiny home village. The lease has a term of one year and can be renewed to encompass a term of up to three years whereupon the property will be converted to permanent transit-oriented development (TOD)

"This partnership is an example of how Sound Transit is working with cities to address the urgent challenges facing people experiencing homelessness," said Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff. "This innovative use of property first used for construction staging when building our new U District station is helping us tackle the most critical need burdening our region. We are grateful to the elected leaders of Seattle in partnering with us on this effort and look forward to the groundbreaking later this fall."

The project, called Rosie's Tiny Home Village, is located at 45th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, where the construction offices for the U District light rail station were formerly housed. Rosie's Tiny Home Village will be managed by the City and operated by the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI). It is expected to provide up to 36 furnished residential units and house up to 65 people. The village will include shared kitchens, bathrooms, offices and other community spaces.

In 2024, Sound Transit intends to redevelop the property as a permanent TOD project that will respond to long-term community needs identified through community engagement efforts to be completed this summer. Sound Transit partners with private and non-profit developers to build TOD, where housing affordable to a range of income levels, as well as new retail, restaurants, offices, and community spaces, contribute to creating vibrant neighborhoods with direct access to transit.