Are you planning to attend SPSCC? You won’t have to live with your parents

OLYMPIA — If you’re planning to attend South Puget Sound Community College next year, or in early 2019, there’s a chance you’ll be able to do so and not have to live at home with mom and dad.

That’s because Big Rock Capital Partners of Tumwater is set to begin work on Mottman Village, a 90,000-square-foot mixed-use development that is coming to 2800 RW Johnson Boulevard SW, which is not on but close to the community’s college’s main campus. Construction is expected to begin in January, with the project set to be completed in time for fall quarter 2018, or winter quarter 2019, said Ryan Clintworth, managing partner. He expects to secure building permits soon.

“It’s a student-focused, mixed-use housing community,” said Clintworth.

The four-story development will be home to 60 units, mostly two-bedroom apartments, and 8,800 square feet of commercial space, which could be shared by a nonprofit, or a coffee business that also sells food. If not, Clintworth said there’s enough room for up to four commercial tenants.

The development will also have one-bedroom and four-bedroom style units.

Mottman Village is not strictly for students, but it has been designed with them in mind, including bike racks, two community rooms where students can gather, as well as private study rooms.

Rents also will be be geared toward students, Clintworth said. Rents haven’t been set just yet, but they will include all utilities.

That’s welcome news for the college, spokeswoman Kelly Green said. A shortage of low-cost housing near the college is a challenge for students, particularly student athletes and those from abroad, and the college does not have the funding, or space, to build its own housing in Tumwater, or at its other campus in Lacey.

“From the beginning, Big Rock Capital sought our input on features and price points that would make this project an attractive option for SPSCC students,” Green said in a statement. “We certainly appreciate this consideration and hope that the end product meets the needs of our students.”

If Big Rock Capital sounds familiar, that’s because this is the same group that plans to redevelop the former Griswold’s office supply building in downtown Olympia. The building burned more than a decade ago and has sat largely untouched ever since.

The Griswold’s project is also intended to be mixed-use, with market-rate apartments and a collaborative workspace for entrepreneurs.

“We’re being thoughtful and moving through it at a thoughtful pace,” Clintworth said about that proposal.