April's Grove Affordable Housing

April's Grove offers affordable housing options for low- and mid-income residents of Eastsound, WA on Orcas Island. It is the first new affordable rental housing project of significant size in San Juan County in almost 30 years.

The 44,278 SF community features 45 units of studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom townhomes across 11 two-story buildings. The site also offers a shared common building, community garden, children's play area, and on-grade parking. The cottages are nestled amongst madrona and fir trees on a 3.79-acre site. Site design was developed through community charrettes focusing on preservation of mature trees, and the scope included full site development performed by Dawson.

April's Grove opened as the first significant affordable rental housing in San Juan County in almost 30 years, 45 homes for low- and mid-income residents who can now stay on the island where they work. The cottages sit among the madrona and fir trees the community insisted on preserving, the common building and garden create genuine neighborhood connections, and the play area gives families a place for their children. For an island where housing costs have pushed out working families for decades, Dawson and OPAL delivered something that changes the conversation about who gets to live in the San Juans.