A developer known as Rise Development LLC has applied to rezone a 5.83-acre former school-and-church site in Lacey and subdivide it into 54 townhouse lots, a project called Parkside Place that would convert institutionally zoned land into moderate-density housing.
A long-dormant parcel in Lacey is headed for the housing market. Rise Development LLC has asked the City of Lacey to strip the Open Space designation from a 5.83-acre parcel inside the Summerwalk Village master plan and rezone it for moderate-density housing, a move that would clear the way for a 54-lot townhouse subdivision on land once set aside for a public school and a church.
The developer has submitted an application for a master plan amendment, rezone and preliminary plat covering the 5.83-acre parcel at 5110 Parkside Drive SE, according to City of Lacey records. The proposal seeks to remove the site’s Open Space designation under the Summerwalk Village Master Plan and rezone the property from Open Space Institutional to Moderate Density Residential, positioning it as Parkside Place, a 54-unit townhouse community.
If approved, the project would create 54 townhouse lots and include construction of the associated streets, utilities, stormwater facilities, landscaping and other site improvements, according to the application. The filing does not include a construction timeline, and the request must still clear Lacey’s land use review process, including consideration by the Planning Commission and City Council. A master plan amendment and rezone of this kind typically requires a State Environmental Policy Act review, a public hearing before the Planning Commission and a final vote by the City Council before any site work can begin, meaning Rise Development is likely still months away from breaking ground even if the request advances without significant opposition.
The proposal lands in a market hungry for for-sale product. Lacey ranks among Thurston County’s fastest-growing cities, and demand for attainable ownership housing has pushed developers toward townhomes, which deliver more units per acre than detached homes while still offering buyers a deed rather than a lease. The Registry has tracked a string of similar plays across the Puget Sound region, including Bellewood Townhomes, a 42-unit project set to replace a 1978 office park in Bellevue.
For Lacey, the conversion of institutionally zoned land to housing reflects a broader recalibration of underused parcels. Sites once reserved for schools, churches and other civic uses are increasingly being repositioned for residential development as population growth outpaces the pipeline of new homes — a shift that turns dormant land into tax-generating rooftops.
The South Sound has drawn steady residential investment as buyers and renters priced out of the Seattle-Tacoma core look south along the Interstate 5 corridor. Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater have absorbed much of that demand, with apartment and for-sale projects alike competing for a limited supply of developable land. Earlier this year, the 193-unit College Pointe apartments in Lacey hit the market for the first time in 36 years, a sign of the interest the submarket now commands, The Registry reported.
If Parkside Place clears the city’s review, it would add 54 new ownership units to a Lacey neighborhood that has waited years for the site to find a use. For a parcel that outlasted a school and a church, a townhouse subdivision may finally be the project that sticks.
