Missing middle housing — once a mere sliver of residential permits issued by the city of Spokane between 2020 and 2022 — surged to nearly 20% of all residential permitting in 2025.  Spokane is beginning to see a renewed wave of these developments with duplexes and townhomes increasingly appearing across the city following zoning reforms aimed at expanding housing options in recent years. 

City of Spokane data show that missing middle housing — a category that includes duplexes, townhomes, accessory dwelling units, and small multifamily buildings — has steadily increased over the last six years. Middle housing permit activity accounted for 17% of residential permits in 2025, up from 10% in 2024, 8% in 2023, and just 3% to 4% of permitted housing units between 2020 and 2022. Much of that growth is attributed to duplex and townhome developments.

Ryan Thompson, performance and business analyst for the city of Spokane, says that, in 2024, the city permitted its highest total of middle housing units in 30 years: of 1,394 total units, 140 were middle housing units.

“While this does not exceed earlier peaks — 21% in 2013 and 19% in 2018 — this was a clear shift from the previous trend,” Thompson says in an email to the Journal. “The key takeaway is that while zoning changes have not made middle housing a dominant category for our issued housing units, they have helped stabilize and improve a previously underperforming housing segment.” 

The uptick in middle housing projects follows the passage of a set of zone changes previously dubbed the Building Opportunity and Choices for All. BOCA was an interim ordinance allowing up to four units to be developed on a single-family lot approved by the Spokane City Council in July 2022. The ordinance was expanded and made permanent in November 2023 to allow up to six multifamily units on lots within residential zones near public transit. It's now referred to as the Building Opportunity for Housing.

Spencer Gardner, planning director for the city of Spokane, previously explained that the zone changes were designed to create more missing-middle housing in response to Spokane’s critical housing crisis, which was prompted by earlier regulations that prioritized single-family housing development.

Given the expanded parameters, townhomes with three to four units on a single lot are becoming a preferred choice for many developers who want to build multiple units while balancing rising interest rates, construction costs, infrastructure requirements, and permitting complexities. 

The Khinda Townhomes development at 3165 N. Stuart, in northeast Spokane, is one of many recently completed middle housing projects in the city. On three lots located east of Division Street and south of Liberty Avenue, longtime Spokane resident, developer, and restaurateur, Ajit Khinda, has built three townhome buildings with a total of 15 units. 

Khinda, owner of Taste of India restaurant, says the development features two- and three-story units priced at market rate, starting at $1,800. The three-story townhomes have a narrow layout with a garage on the ground floor, along with office and flexible space; second-floor kitchen and living areas; and third-floor bedrooms and an in-unit laundry area. 

Three-story units have 1,600 square feet of living space, compared to the two-story townhomes, which have 1,000 square feet of space and a wider layout, but lack garages, he says. 

At first, Khinda says he thought townhomes would be easier to build than apartments, which proved to be the more financially viable option for the site. Unlike apartments, which demand intensive fire and unit isolation, Khinda says townhomes allow for streamlined, continuous flooring and simple separation walls. There were some challenges with permitting and installing some of the sewer systems along the way, but Khinda contends that developing townhomes was similar to building apartments.

About 4 miles northwest of Khinda Townhomes, another developer, Spokane-based Avey Construction Group LLC, is planning a 24-unit townhome project on a 2.5-acre lot, at 7724 N. Austin Road, in Spokane's Five Mile Prairie neighborhood. As planned, Avey Townhomes will be comprised of four three-story, three-unit residential buildings and four three-story, four-unit buildings, according to previous reporting by the Journal of Business.

A representative of Avey Construction Group did not respond to the Journal's requests for comment.

Avey Construction Group's website attributes the uptick in townhome developments in the region to lower costs compared to apartments, accessible ownership prices, and land-use efficiency.

Matt Hutchins, founder and principal of Seattle-based Cast Architecture PLLC , is planning between 10 and 12 apartment units on Spokane's South Hill. -Karina Elias 

Matt Hutchins, founder and principal of Seattle-based Cast Architecture PLLC, counters the trend of developers favoring townhome projects here, expressing that six-unit multifamily buildings are the optimal solution for single-family lot development. 

Cast Architecture completed the Manito Six residential development last year, a six-unit multifamily building at 1517 S. Grand Blvd., on Spokane’s South Hill. Manito Six is based on the company's "Spokane Six" design concept, which debuted as a response to Spokane’s drive to increase missing middle housing. The Spokane Six design concept has emerged as a financially viable blueprint for urban density, Hutchins contends.

Manito Six is a three-story multiplex comprised of six 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom apartments organized around a single staircase, Hutchins says. Each unit has access to natural light and fresh air on three sides, private porches, energy-efficient appliances, built-in laundry, parking, electric vehicle charging, and a landscape incorporating drought-tolerant native plants.

“Our goal is to design something that fits really well with the neighborhood,” Hutchins says.

Hutchins, a first-time developer, established Seattle-based Heritage Housing Manager LLC to facilitate his growing portfolio of middle-housing developments, he says.

Cast Architecture also is preparing the development of a second middle housing project at 1611 W. Ninth, on Spokane’s South Hill. As planned, an existing triplex located on the property will be demolished to make way for 10 to 12 units in two buildings, Hutchins says. 

Modeled after turn-of-the-century multiplexes, Hutchins says the two planned residential buildings are designed with street-facing balconies and porches intended to blend into the existing residential streetscape while increasing housing density.

Although many middle-housing projects are relatively small, developing these properties requires developers to contend with financing and regulatory barriers associated with much larger apartment developments, he says. Once buildings exceed five units, financing generally shifts to commercial lending structures, commercial appraisals, and separate underwriting standards. But despite those challenges, Hutchins says the company plans to pursue similar projects here as opportunities arise.

“We really love these neighborhoods and are eager to roll out a couple of these every year as fast as we can possibly produce them,” Hutchins says.