Mike Kempinski is no stranger to Yelm.
The 2001 Yelm High School graduate and owner of Mountain Terrace Builders was raised locally and has helped construct many homes and apartment sites in Yelm.
His latest project includes constructing Michael’s Landing, a 14-home subdivision near Longmire Park.
In addition to constructing Michael’s Landing, Kempinski and Mountain Terrace Builders will also build a 50-spot parking lot for overflow parking at Longmire Park, which is notoriously busy during something such as a Little League baseball season in the summer.
Yelm’s Public Works Director Cody Colt said the city is completely hands-off with the project and grateful for Mountain Terrace Builders’ efforts in constructing additional parking for Longmire Park. He noted that Kempinski asked the city if it would be interested in Mountain Terrace Builders constructing additional parking for Longmire Park, and Colt said the city graciously accepted the offer.
“Mountain Terrace Builders offered to build overflow parking for us for Longmire Park,” Colt said. “We were more than happy to accept. They’re building a small development and overflow parking, which is great for Longmire Park because it gets pretty crowded during baseball season. I think this will be huge. It’s going to be something where you’ll now have overflow parking during opening days. I know opening day people are parking up and down Canal Road. That development is also going to create a walking path.”
Kempinski said the 14-home subdivision will be single family homes, which are your typical newly constructed houses in Yelm.
“I’ve built a lot of subdivisions and apartment sites in this town,” Kempinski said. “That particular piece there, my wife and I bought it a long time ago. We sat down with Cody and I donated a front portion of that property to the City of Yelm to put in additional parking. I graduated from YHS in 2001. My family is all here. My parents are still in this town. It’s been years in the making, and it’s a long ladder to climb. It’s a lot of work, but it’s super nice. I remember starting out building one or two houses here and there, but now our company, Mountain Terrace, we try to get to 20 to 25 houses a year now. It’s a big jump for us, but my office consists of most of my family.”
With the construction of Michael’s Landing and 50 additional parking spots for Longmire Park, Kempinski said a crosswalk with signs and flashing lights will also be installed for pedestrians to walk safely to the park. He noted that Michael’s Landing will be directly across the street from Longmire Park.
“Our road is a connecting road that we’re installing and it will connect to another subdivision behind us there. We’re moving dirt in there now. We’re hoping to see houses in the mid to late summer there. We’re hoping the parking lot is done just before the summer,” Kempinski said. “The subdivision and parking lot is in a good spot and we’re excited. We like working with Cody and the City of Yelm a lot. They’ve always been good to us.”
Kempinski and Mountain Terrace Builders anticipate the 14 homes to hit the housing market in the late summer or early fall.
“This has been a work in progress for the last two years now,” Kempinski said. “It’s definitely a process to get things through, but it looks like we’ve got the green lights for everything. Now we just have to make it happen.”
