New funding brings 46-home Ferndale affordable housing project closer to reality
A proposed permanently-affordable Whatcom County neighborhood development is closer to reality after a Washington state grant was allocated to help fund it.
Thornton Village is a planned 46-home community on an 8.2-acre parcel at 2039 Thornton St. in Ferndale. The project is being developed by Kulshan Community Land Trust in partnership with Whatcom County and the city of Ferndale.
After purchasing the land from a private owner several years ago with more than $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, the state of Washington allocated an additional $8 million in capital budget funding this year to support the project’s infrastructure and site readiness.
“This appropriation is a game-changer for Ferndale and for Whatcom County,” KulshanCLT Executive Director said Rose Lathrop said in a news release about the funding.
“Thornton Village isn’t just 46 homes. It’s a permanent legacy. This appropriation will help us build a neighborhood where teachers, health care workers and tradespeople can afford to live in the community they serve, for generations to come,” Lathrop said.
KulshanCLT has secured a total of $9 million in public funding for the project, including the recent $8 million grant and a $1 million Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program (CHIP) grant. Still more funding is needed to bring the project online.
The nonprofit is calling this “one of the highest returns on public housing investment available,” with the goal of making these homes affordable for the first buyer and every subsequent buyer as well.
The homes are expected to be “modest, energy-efficient, and designed for working families, with a mix of sizes to support different household needs,” KulshanCLT’s communications lead Amy Painter told The Bellingham Herald.
Buyers will need to be income-qualified and earn 60-80% of the area median income.
The median household income in Whatcom County was about $81,784 between 2020 and 2024, according to U.S. Census data.
“Our region’s affordable housing crisis affects communities of all sizes, not just major cities,” Ferndale Mayor Greg Hansen said in the news release. “For small cities like Ferndale, options to address affordability are limited. The city of Ferndale is proud to work with KulshanCLT to bring permanently affordable homes to our community, and we are thrilled that Kulshan CLT has been allocated funds in the Washington State Capital Budget for the Thornton Village Project.”
Ferndale home prices have more than doubled in the past eight years, now averaging more than $650,000, according to KulshanCLT. At the same time, rental costs have also risen almost 50% and wages have not kept pace with home prices, leaving fewer than one in five Ferndale households able to afford a median-priced home, according to the nonprofit.
“The consequences are visible and immediate. Individuals and families are increasingly forced into long commutes or out of the region altogether, creating a workforce housing crisis that threatens the economic vitality and social fabric of communities across Whatcom County,” the news release states.
The state established targeted housing goals for every county in Washington over the next 20 years. Between 2024 and 2044, Whatcom County is estimated to need almost 35,000 new housing units. About 22,000 of those units, more than 60%, need to be affordable, according to the city of Bellingham.
KulshanCLT is planning to begin construction on Thornton Village in late 2027, with work still ongoing to finalize the design, acquire permitting and close the remaining funding gap. The nonprofit’s goal is to have the first homes available for purchase in late 2029, according to KulshanCLT’s communications lead Amy Painter.
KulshanCLT currently holds 147 permanently affordable homes in trust, including condominiums, single-family homes, and modular homes. In addition to Thornton Village, the nonprofit also has two other active building projects underway:
- Telegraph Townhomes (24 homes)
- Birchwood LaFreniere Court (18 homes)
