A city of Bellingham photo shows the duplex at 1504 and 1506 I Street, which the city bought in 1989 and conveyed to the Opportunity Council for use as transitional housing.
Courtesy to The Bellingham Herald
The city of Bellingham recently learned that it owns a duplex in the Lettered Streets neighborhood, and it’s trying to off-load the property quickly to a nonprofit group for use by low-income or recently homeless people.
On a unanimous vote after a public hearing Monday night, the City Council voted to declare the property at 1504 and 1506 I St. as surplus. That step allows the city to sell the building at below-market value under a process that designates the building for “special disposition through a negotiated sale using a request for proposals process,” according to information on the City Council agenda.
Community and Economic Development Manager Tara Sundin said the city reached out to several nonprofit agencies who serve low-income people and let them know the home is available. Agencies that want the duplex will need to apply under the official process.
City officials only recently found out that Opportunity Council, which had been using the duplex for transitional housing for 36 years, didn’t want to continue using the site. Bellingham gave the duplex to the Opportunity Council in 1990 under a quit-claim deed that requires the building to be transferred back to the city.
“This was a surprise to city staff,” Sundin told council members Monday night. City officials aren’t certain how the city acquired the property.
Opportunity Council Executive Director Greg Winter said the house is becoming hard for his agency to manage.
“As Opportunity Council advances larger multifamily housing developments (50-plus units), this small legacy property has become increasingly inefficient to operate and maintain, creating a disproportionate burden on our facilities team,” Winter told The Herald in an email. “We are recommending transferring ownership to another mission-aligned nonprofit that is committed to preserving its use for transitional or supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness. This approach allows us to focus resources on our current development strategy while ensuring these units continue to serve community housing needs.”
Transitional housing is the term for a unit designed for people who are moving from homelessness to a more permanent living situation.
The duplex is a former single-family home built in 1920 and later converted into two 1,100-square- feet units, each with two bedrooms and one bathroom, according to the Whatcom County Assessor’s Office website.
Its value was appraised at $797,000. The city bought it in 1989 for $18,500.
Robert Mittendorf covers civic issues, weather, traffic and how people are coping with the high cost of housing for The Bellingham Herald. A journalist since 1984, he also served 22 years as a volunteer firefighter for South Whatcom Fire Authority before retiring in 2025.
