13-05-2025
Tacoma church opens 60 affordable-housing units to complete decades-long vision
A Tacoma church and community leaders recently celebrated a new affordable-housing project in the Hilltop neighborhood that has been decades in the making.
The Shiloh New Life Apartments next to the Shiloh Baptist Church, 1211 S. I St., offers 60 affordable housing units for low-income individuals and families, with a priority on offering units to individuals experiencing homelessness.
Pastor Chavis Young told The News Tribune the church purchased the land for the apartments nearly 25 years ago with a vision to create affordable housing.
'This was birthed from the heart of Pastor E.S. Brazill, who wanted to create low-income housing on that land,' Young said.
Before becoming the New Life Apartments, Young said, the land was used for a variety of purposes, including transitional housing for those exiting incarceration. He said the New Life Apartments were part of a decades-old vision by the late Brazill, who 'dreamed of creating housing on a bigger scale.'
Brazill's vision was carried on by Pastor Gregory Christopher, who retired from Shiloh Baptist Church in 2023 after serving the Hilltop community for more than 20 years.
Young said Christopher 'had a heart for serving' the unhoused community as he experienced homelessness earlier in his life.
While neither Christopher nor Brazill was not at the church to see their vision come to fruition, Young said it was a 'blessing' to see the land where five houses once sat transformed into housing for dozens of families and individuals.
The complex is composed of two separate buildings, one named for Brazill's wife, Lily, and the other named for James and Marilyn Walton — two community leaders who were involved with the church. James Walton was the City of Tacoma's first Black city manager.
Shane Vestnys, a property manager for the apartments, told The News Tribune as of May 7 all but one of the units had been leased.
Vestnys said one-third of the units are reserved for veterans experiencing housing instability. Veterans can be referred to the units through Veterans Affairs, and the Tacoma Housing Authority is providing housing vouchers for those individuals.
Units are also available for individuals with disabilities.
Many of the units come furnished, and Vestnys said a representative from a service provider is on site to assist residents with the supportive services they might need.
The units are intended for individuals and families earning 30–50% of the Area Median Income (AMI). According to recent U.S. Census Bureau data from 2023, Tacoma's household AMI is $83,857.
The nearly $34 million project received $5,077,566 in funding from Pierce County, $6,020,000 from the Washington State Department of Commerce, $4,444,893 through the City of Tacoma's Community Redevelopment Authority Board, and $14,458,765 in equity from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission's Low Income Housing Tax Credit.
The public investments mark a region-wide push to create affordable housing stock.
'To fully meet the housing needs of current and future residents, the county needs to produce, on average, over 2,300 units per year of housing affordable at or below 50% of area median income (AMI) through the year 2044,' the county's Housing Action Strategy of 2022 found. 'Over half of these units are needed for households at 30% of AMI or below.'
