Tag Archives: affordability

Proposal would slash Seattle development fees up to 80% — if builders hurry up and break ground

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Faced with a growing map of stalled projects and empty lots, the Seattle City Council has a plan to temporarily slash affordable housing fees on large residential buildings while setting the groundwork on new requirements to push much needed below-market housing into newly upzoned single-family neighborhoods.

Councilmember Dionne Foster, chair of the Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights committee, is proposing the legislative package to revive stalled apartment production while expanding hopes for affordable home development across the city.

The “Housing Accelerator” bill set to be presented Friday aims to spur construction amid declining permit filings by amending Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability program. It would mean massively cheaper city fees for developers — but only if they break ground and pass a foundation inspection by a strict deadline. Continue reading →

Seattle Office of Housing grows to more than $300M a year affordability effort

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Mayor Katie Wilson’s choice to lead the city’s Office of Housing was slated to brief the city council Wednesday morning on the department’s efforts as the Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee was scheduled to cast its vote on the appointment.

CHS reported here on Wilson’s selection of Kelli Larsen following a selection process involving community organizations and housing partners.

In her presentation for the council, Larsen says the Seattle Office of Housing’s 2025 performance report highlights hundreds of millions in dedicated funding aimed at sustaining affordable housing amid severe market and cost pressures.

According to the update, the 2024–2030 Housing Levy is anchoring the city’s strategy, generating $138 million annually with 78% targeted for rental production, alongside a $142 million JumpStart/PET budget.

In total, Seattle’s Office of Housing mobilizes more than $300 million annually in local funds — about six times what it marshaled a decade ago.

Continue reading →

Seattle City Council to vote on rental ‘junk fee’ regulations — including removing term ‘junk’ from the law

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The Seattle City Council is prepared to vote Tuesday afternoon on legislation championed by Mayor Katie Wilson hoped to reduce so-called “junk fees” on renters in the city.

The rental fee regulations bill was passed out of committee last week with a few tweaks to the mayor’s plan including an update that would require landlords who offer bundled optional goods/services like a tech fee bundling cable and internet to make each component available individually. Another would clarify how total monthly costs must be advertised and listed, requiring landlords to include estimated or 12-month average utility and variable costs. Continue reading →

Wilson takes on grocery affordability with proposed ban on surveillance pricing in Seattle

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(Image: CNBC)

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson made an $8 slice of pizza a campaign issue. Now she is getting ready to do battle with a core tenet of modern commerce, seeking to ban so-called “surveillance pricing” on groceries in the city.

The proposed ban arrives as chains have begun deploying digital price displays at Capitol Hill-area stores though it is unclear if any dynamic pricing is happening. Online is another story with analysis and anecdotes showing algorithmic pricing already commonplace for Seattle shoppers.

While the focus for the mayor is grocery affordability, her administration’s legislation set to begin its path Friday with the Seattle City Council would reach beyond Safeway and QFC and be applied to all large retail chains and online shopping sites selling grocery goods for “offsite consumption.”

“This policy stops corporations from using personal data to squeeze more money out of shoppers,” Wilson said in the announcement of her new initiative. “They’re not compiling all this information about us to charge us less; they’re trying to maximize what they can charge. Businesses are free to set their prices in a fair and transparent manner. The same product, in the same store, should cost the same no matter who’s pushing the cart.” Continue reading →

‘I believe housing is the solution to homelessness’ — Wilson names director of Seattle Office of Housing

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Larsen (Image: City of Seattle)

Mayor Katie Wilson has announced the appointment of Kelli Larsen as the new director of the Seattle Office of Housing.

Following a selection process involving community organizations and housing partners, Wilson says she chose Larsen to drive the city’s affordable housing agenda. Wilson praised Larsen’s “thoughtful, values-based, and decisive leadership” in the announcement, saying that her guidance will be essential in expanding housing access and combating homelessness. Continue reading →

With pet supply store’s exit, Broadway demolition can move forward for long-planned affordable apartment building

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Predicting exactly when the long-frozen Capitol Hill mixed-use development landscape will thaw is a fool’s game but there are some signs of a new apartment building summer starting in the neighborhood.

Or, maybe we’ll only get another emptied block waiting for construction.

Employees at Broadway’s Mud Bay pet supply store are telling customers the shop’s final day of business will come in July. That closure could be one key piece to fall in a process to finally redevelop 229 Broadway E block.

Last year, developers asked the city to extend the timeline for permits to demolish the 1903-era Wilshire Building, the onetime home of Jai Thai and a mix of local businesses and upstairs residents, once the Broadway Rexall, and, according to the city’s 2022 board, most assuredly not a Seattle landmark.

The property has long been lined up for a low-income housing development boosted by $3 million in affordable housing funding from the 2021 round of Office of Housing grants. Developers purchased the property for $6.25 million in 2018, according to King County records. Continue reading →

Council notes: New recycling processing contract for Seattle, Social Housing Developer charter changes

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(Image: SPU)

The weekly full meeting of the Seattle City Council includes a vote a new contract for processing Seattle’s 215,000 to 220,000 tons of municipal recycling per year.

  • New recycling processing contract: Already blessed by council president Joy Hollingsworth and the utilities committee, the full council Tuesday is set to approve a new a new five-year processing contract with Waste Management that will pay the company in the range of $6 million a year for its services.. The agreement, which includes two three-year extension options, is slated to take effect in April 2027 following the expiration of the city’s current contract with Rabanco. While the contract will not begin operations until next year, Seattle Public Utilities is seeking City Council authorization now to grant Waste Management sufficient lead time to build out a new recycling material receiving facility and deploy advanced sorting equipment. Continue reading →

Seattle Social Housing’s ‘10,000’ applicants latest example of affordability challenges in Seattle

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(Image: Seattle Social Housing Developer)

More than 10,000 people have applied to live in Elara at the Market, the first building to be acquired and converted to affordable housing by the city’s new Seattle Social Housing program.

For now, only 15 will be selected.

The Elara, just steps from Pike Place Market, has 150 units but most of those apartments in the acquired building already have tenants. The lottery process underway begins with the first 15 vacancies, officials said. Continue reading →

With a stronger than expected tax boost, funding of Seattle Social Housing Developer begins with $115M push

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The SSHD can now afford to buy four or five El Capitans (Image: Joe Mabel/Wikipedia)

The push to create affordable “social housing” in Seattle will start with more cash than expected as revenue from a voter-approved tax on businesses with high earners to power the initiative came in well above forecasts, officials say.

Tuesday the Seattle City Council approved the legislative agreement opening the way for funding from the city’s voter-approved Excess Compensation Tax to be transferred to the Seattle Social Housing Developer as it begins its mission to acquire and build affordable housing in the city.

Officials announced the first payments from the February 2025 Prop 1A 5% tax on employers that pay any employee more than $1 million in compensation climbed above $100 million. The city began collecting the first Prop 1A payments from employers for the 2025 tax year this January. The tax had been expected to raise more than $50 million annually. Continue reading →

‘Rising rents, messed up utility billing systems, and junk fees’ — Wilson launches ‘Mayoral Renter’s Survey’

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CHS discovered Wilson’s announcement in a Facebook Reel

Seattle has a Capitol Hill renter in the mayor’s office. She wants to know what fellow Seattle renters are experiencing.

Mayor Katie Wilson has launched a “Mayoral Renter’s Survey” to collect feedback from tenants as they tangle with “rising rents, messed up utility billing systems, and junk fees.”

“I know a survey might not sound like that big of a deal, but organizing and good governance start with listening,” Wilson says in the social media clip announcing the survey effort. “I know landlords are an important part of the conversation, too, and I am sure I will be hearing from them. But to win a city that truly works for renters, we need to hear more from you.” Continue reading →