With even more competing interests than on Capitol Hill, the effort to forge a new pro-affordability zoning scheme for the Central District has resulted in quite a complex map.
The Central District is poised for even more transformation.
Most of the affected zones throughout the city (Central District included) would get the standard “HALA bump” — a one story increase in allowable building height along with new “mandatory housing affordability” requirements for all new residential construction. As part of Seattle’s “Grand Bargain,” MHA will link the creation of affordable housing with market-rate development by requiring all new multifamily buildings to make 5-11% of their units affordable or require developers to pay into an affordable housing fund. Continue reading →
15% of Seattle is slated to be rezoned to allow for taller buildings as part of Mayor Ed Murray’sHousing Affordability and Livability Agenda. The largest concentration of rezones includes a swath of land covering downtown, Capitol Hill, and the Central District.
Most of the area’s multifamily housing zones would get the standard “HALA bump” — a one story increase in allowable building height along with new “mandatory housing affordability” requirements for all new residential construction. As part of Seattle’s “Grand Bargain,” MHA will link the creation of affordable housing with market-rate development by requiring all new multifamily buildings to make 5-11% of their units affordable or require developers to pay into an affordable housing fund. That part of the program has already been approved by City Council. Over the next year the city will hammer out how to handle the zoning.
Much of the First Hill-Capitol Hill urban center residential zones would receive the one-story bump along with a requirement that all new development include 5-7% of affordable units. Some would be required to meet higher affordability mandates. But the devil is in the details, and there are plenty of details to sift through when it comes to the zoning maps on Capitol Hill.
1. Auto-row incentives (probably) maintained
The Pike/Pine Conservation District is a unique incentive zoning program in Seattle responsible for most of the auto-row preservation projects on Capitol Hill. Changes proposed under the HALA map appear to undercut the program, but a upcoming tweak to the building code would likely keep those incentives in play.
Under the preservation program, developers get to build seven stories instead of six for preserving an old building facade in Pike/Pine. In the proposed HALA map, an up-zone in Pike/Pine would automatically allow for seven-story buildings. While preserving a facade would still get developers a one extra story, it seems unlikely they would take it. Building codes mandate that any building higher than seven stories must be entirely concrete or steel framed instead of wood, making an eight-story project vastly more expensive. Continue reading →
Seattle City Council members have put forward 14 amendments to Mayor Ed Murray’s cornerstone affordable housing legislation, including one intended to help replace cheap apartments demolished during the city’s recent construction boom.
Last year, Murray unveiled his “Grand Bargain” with developers, where building size bonuses would be given for a payment or performance system that requires multi-family developers either make 5% to 8% of units income restricted or pay a fee into an affordable housing fund.
The Mandatory Affordable Housing measure is expected to create 6,000 income restricted units over the next 10 years. However, City Council member Lisa Herbold says the city has demolished roughly the same amount of “affordable” apartments over the past decade, particularly in desirable neighborhoods. Continue reading →
“We do know that homeowners have participated more in the past. but we’re also looking for folks who are generally not participating in these kinds of conversations.”
As the Seattle City Council begins to slowly sift through and implement the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda committee’s recommendations to address the city’s housing supply, city departments are conducting public outreach on HALA — partly through community focus groups made up of members of the public. While for many currently living on Capitol Hill, any improvements will likely come long after we’re priced out of the neighborhood, the optimistic and altruistic should consider joining the fight.
Also, the city needs you! The most recent applicant demographic breakdown from the department of neighborhoods reveals a skewed applicant pool. Out of a total of 238 applicants to date, those from the north Seattle neighborhoods of Wallingford, Phinney-Ridge, and Ballard are still overly represented (with 26, 20, and 18 applicants respectively). Next up is the area surrounding 23rd Ave between Union and Jackson in the Central District with 13 applicants, then North Beacon Hill with 12 and Capitol Hill with 9 (or 4% of the total applicants). Other neighborhoods throughout the city have pitched eight or fewer applicants.
Kathy Nyland, director of the Department of Neighborhoods, says that even though the applicant demographics are skewed, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the final composition of the focus groups will be similarly disproportional. The ideal is to have a healthy mix of both renters, homeowners, and “traditionally underrepresented groups including minorities, immigrants, refugees, and non-native English speakers.” There are no minimum quotas for each of those demographics, but diversity will be kept in mind while choosing applicants, Nyland said.
“We do know that homeowners have participated more in the past. but we’re also looking for folks who are generally not participating in these kinds of conversations,” said Nyland.
The focus groups are still being put together and the Department of Neighborhoods is currently accepting applications from interested citizens until February 26th. Their stated purpose is to “guide implementation of the [HALA] agenda.” “We are asking residents from neighborhoods across the city to participate as volunteers to inform the HALA process. A key focus of the Community Focus Groups will be land use and zoning changes that could affect neighborhoods,” the application for interested citizens reads. Continue reading →
Wednesday at City Hall, Seattle City Council members and frequent collaborators Nick Licata and Kshama Sawant announced legislation that would prevent landlords from raising rents by 10% or more on units that have unaddressed housing code violations. While far from a broad application, the move could represent Seattle’s first step around statewide limits on rent control following a resolution to challenge the ban.
“[The legislation] will prohibit landlords from forcing any rent increase while a unit suffers from any conditions that lead to unsafe or unhealthy living conditions. The landlord must remedy such defects before implementing any rent increase,” Licata said, flanked by tenants of the Columbia City property, a representative of the Tenants Union, and Sharon Lee, the executive director of the Low Income Housing Institute.
“The city has a responsibility to make every legal avenue possible to defend tenants’ rights,” Sawant said.
Sawant also called out a Capitol Hill building as an example where, council staff tells CHS, it “appears the landlord is avoiding paying tenant relocation assistance by raising rents significantly to force tenants out, and then carrying out major renovations.” CHS is investigating the claim and will have more information on the situation soon.
North of Capitol Hill, Pete Faraday enjoys living in his house on Portage Bay, but he wanted to find a way to make it more multi-generational. His solution: Build a backyard cottage so that other members of the family — or even renters — have a place to live. Meanwhile in Miller Park, the City of Seattle is making plans to sell a surplus property and put the proceeds toward developing low-income rental housing, a key recommendation from the HALA process.
DADU in Portage Bay
Easing the way for backyard cottages, formally known as Detached Affordable Dwelling Units or DADUs, has been one of the less controversial recommendations made by the mayor’s affordable housing task force. Although the mayor backed away from a proposed change that would have allowed any single-family house in the city to become a duplex, ideas to encourage more backyard cottages remain in play.
The units can be up to 800 square feet (or 1,000 square feet if attached to the house), and typically have a kitchen, bathroom and one or two bedrooms — basically a standalone apartment sitting in someone’s yard. The affordable housing task force pointed to the cottages as a way to increase the housing supply in a relatively cost-effective manner. Continue reading →
With even more competing interests than on Capitol Hill, the effort to forge a new pro-affordability zoning scheme for the Central District has resulted in quite a complex map.
