Inside Capitol Hill’s Belmont Village — ‘This is how all of our efforts are connected’

New neighbors are settling in at Capitol Hill’s Belmont Village.

“From the first contacts who got me and my girlfriend into our tiny home, the normalcy you never even have to think about was slowly regained,” one former Seattle tiny house village resident said at the July opening ceremony for the new shelter facility. “The worry stopped and I started to be back to my normal self.”

Built in a record 75 days for $1.1 million, Belmont Village has been open for a few weeks on Belmont Ave on Capitol Hill.

Managed by the Low Income Housing Institute and funded by the City of Seattle, the rapid construction provides a small response to regional needs. Belmont Village replaces the former Friendship Heights Village on Aurora Avenue, where LIHI is constructing 90 units of affordable senior housing.

“Tiny house villages reflect how we best meet people exactly where they are, offering a path forward grounded in dignity,” Mayor Katie Wilson said at the Belmont Village opening. “I am proud to continue our ongoing partnership with LIHI in our shared commitment of addressing the intertwined crises of behavioral health and housing.”

This spring, the Seattle City Council approved Wilson’s plan for “Shelter Acceleration” in the city that has raised legal limits on residents at “transitional encampments” to 150. The bill also allows one “interim use” 250-resident village in the city. The plan has produced only 75 new units at a new village in Interbay.

Belmont Village was planned by LIHI and the Downtown Emergency Service Center prior to the acceleration efforts.

The village is situated on land leased from the DESC which eventually plans to build a 120-unit permanent supportive housing facility on the site. In the interim, the lot accommodates 31 micro-shelters, each measuring 8’x12′ — roughly the footprint of a small bedroom. Six of these homes and all shared common structures are fully wheelchair accessible.

Every tiny house provides residents with a secure, private room that includes:

• Double-pane windows and a solid locking door for security and privacy
• Full electrical wiring, outlets, and safety features including a smoke detector
• Wall insulation, integrated heating, and air conditioning units
• Bed frames and mattresses donated through a corporate partnership with Mattress Firm
• Basic home furnishings and a welcome kit with essential supplies

To support communal living and maintain operations, Belmont Village has centralized services across the property. The layout includes an administrative area housing office space and a dedicated security pavilion at the entrance. Communal infrastructure features a fully equipped community kitchen, central hygiene trailers, and laundry facilities to serve all residents.

Unlike previous styles of congregate shelters, Belmont Village operates under an enhanced shelter model, accepting individuals, couples, and residents with pets, eliminating common barriers to entry.

In a harm-reduction approach, residents are not required to be clean, sober, or undergoing addiction treatment to get a unit. Services are offered voluntarily rather than as a condition of stay and entry does not require state IDs, social security cards, background checks, or credit checks, which can be difficult for unsheltered individuals.

Daily management relies on round-the-clock, 24/7 staffing to handle security, site coordination, and facility upkeep. Beyond physical shelter, daily operations emphasize support designed to transition residents into long-term stability:

• On-Site Case Management: Case managers work with residents daily to secure vital documentation, establish public benefits, access healthcare, enroll in educational programs, search for employment, and apply for permanent housing.
• Behavioral Health Support: An on-site behavioral health specialist delivers care and coordinates outpatient referrals for Medication-Assisted Treatment and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
• Community Integration: Staff work with neighborhood groups, local businesses like the Greater Seattle Business Association, and non-profit partners such as Sound Foundations NW to coordinate volunteer efforts, donations, and mural projects.

LIHI currently operates 17 tiny house villages across King, Pierce, and Thurston counties while managing over 3,700 units of affordable housing. It claims a 55% success rate in transitioning unsheltered residents into permanent or transitional housing.

Officials speaking at the opening ceremony for the village said the effort is not just about moving people along.

“People experiencing homelessness too often lose connection, and this community is a place to rebuild that connection,” Mark Ellerbrook, Deputy Director of City Operations at the city, said. ‘This is how you build belonging, and this is how all of our efforts in terms of how we address homelessness are connected.”