The Hoquiam City Council Monday approved selling a chunk of city property and gave its blessing to enter a purchase agreement with the Low Income Housing Institute, a Seattle-based non-profit that wants to build affordable housing here.

The move brings the city two steps closer to a new housing project for low income residents. The Low Income Housing Institute manages more than 2,000 housing units at 50 sites, most in King County, the majority of which are reserved for households earning less than 30 percent of the area’s median household income. This would be their first project in Grays Harbor County.

The property is across the street from city hall, next to the Hoquiam Brewing Company on the corner of 8th Street and L Street. City Administrator Brian Shay said it gets the city closer to its goal of surplussing all of its properties around City Hall and putting them on the market. This particular piece of property was recently purchased by the city, and the Low Income Housing Institute has made an offer of $50,000 for its purchase, according to Shay.

The Low Income Housing Institute has said a development in the Hoquiam area would resemble its Billy Frank Jr. Place building in Olympia. That four story building has 43 units, mostly studios and one bedrooms, open to low income and homeless veterans and young adults. Their developments provide in-house case management and job skills services, access to technology, financial literacy training and savings programs.

Rents vary based on location. Rentals are posted on the institute’s web site, lihi.org, along with the minimum and maximum income a household needs to qualify.

The institute will now go to work to secure funds for construction through a variety of state, local and federal sources.