Birds were chirping over the subtle roar of the highway Wednesday in Spanaway as a handful of News Tribune reporters trekked through the woods, surveying an open gravel area that will soon be full of small cottages for the chronically homeless.
Earlier this month Tacoma Rescue Mission’s got the green light to start construction on its unique “Good Neighbor Village,” a shared-housing village for people living unhoused at 1609 176th St. S. and 17320 Spanaway Loop Road S.
The plan is to have the first cohort of 20 to 25 residents move in by March or April 2027, said Duke Paulson, Tacoma Rescue Mission’s executive director. The nonprofit plans to have 50 homes built in 2027 and 150 total homes built by 2028, in addition to shared buildings and a community farm, as previously reported by The News Tribune. The ultimate goal is to have 285 homes on site…