The Seattle Social Housing Developer smashed projections and pulled in more than double the amount expected from a recently voter-approved “excess compensation tax.” Social housing advocates’ priority bill at the state legislature is also making significant progress.
DESC opened 95 supportive housing units last week in Upper Fremont. Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson attended the ribbon-cutting celebration, noting the positive step toward addressing the homelessness crisis, but Trump cuts could slow the pace of similar project openings.
The Seattle City Council is proposing to scale back the range of construction projects required to get project-level State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review in a bid to boost homebuilding. The proposal will go to full council on February 10.
Mayor Katie Wilson is promoting inspections director Sam Steele to interim director of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, she announced Tuesday. Steele has pledged to streamline processes to make it easier to build housing and emergency shelter.
Uytae Lee of About Here ticks through the design entrants at a recent mass timber architecture competition, showcasing the vast architectural diversity possible with the eco-friendly construction method.
Homebuilding activity is anemic near the three Sound Transit light rail stations opening this month in South King County. The Urbanist reviews the 3,000-plus homes in the development pipeline, and explores the obstacles standing in the way.
A handful of new affordable housing complexes in the Central District and South End are providing some welcome relief to apartment-seekers amidst a housing affordability crunch. Leaders from Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and SouthEast Effective Development (SEED) shared what’s in store.
The targeted upgrades intended to speed up buses and increase reliability have been in the works since 2021, and come just in time to aid riders during upcoming I-5 closures. They have faced considerable opposition from business groups along Route 40.
Civil engineer Donna Breske argued Seattle Public Utilities misguided water hookup policies lead to unequal outcomes, effectively downzoning much of the city where fees are too high to make projects feasible.
The 2017 Marymoor Village growth center has led to a number of larger multifamily developments in the area around Marymoor Park in Southeast Redmond. This weekend, light rail finally arrives.
New apartment buildings like Eastline and Polaris have brought hundreds of units close to Redmond’s forthcoming downtown light rail station. On the horizon are even bigger projects.
Redmond’s 1993 Downtown Plan led to an urban transformation that saw the construction of over 5,000 new units between 2000 and 2020. This Saturday, light rail arrives to support that urban growth.
Extensions for permit applications submitted under prior building codes could impact more than 3,000 distinct projects across the city, but the direct target of the legislation is around a dozen high-profile projects downtown that could spring back to life.
Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections Director Nathan Torgelson announced his resignation in an email to staff today. Torgelson and Mayor Bruce Harrell said the decision was mutual and pledged a smooth transition. Much work is on the department’s plate in coming months.
In shift away from office and toward housing growth, Downtown Bellevue’s development pipeline has seen nearly 4,000 additional homes proposed and more than two million square feet of office space abandoned in just the last couple of years. Once built, the pipeline of 14,000 homes would more than dou
Builders have nearly 3,000 homes in the works near Lynnwood’s freshly opened light rail station. But more than half hang on two massive projects that are in limbo.
Lynnwood Link opened on Friday and the excitement was high among riders and dignitaries, alike.
More than 1,800 homes are under construction, recently completed, or planned near Mountlake Terrace Station, where light rail service will soon commence.
Within a mile of Shoreline North Station, about 1,700 homes have been built or planned since 2019. While the development pipeline is petering out, the City could jumpstart it once more with zoning changes and action to redevelop public land.
Shoreline is seeing booming development. We’ll take a look at what’s been built and what’s on the way near the soon-to-open Shoreline South light rail station.
Three years after the opening of Northgate’s Link light rail station, Simon Properties broke ground on the first residential development within their Northgate Mall property, which they have renamed “Northgate Station.” The mall operator and developer’s July 11th groundbreaking of 234 new homes took place as construction completions
A million-dollar McLaren Elva briefly graced the 47th floor rooftop next to the jacuzzi to promote the “First Light” condo tower opening this summer. The housing market is working quite well for the rich, how about for the rest of us?
East Main, South Bellevue, and Wilburton Station are the clear laggards along the 2 Line where development activity has been sparse. A pending zoning update offers a lot of hope for Wilburton, a little for East Main, and none for South Bellevue.
A huge Microsoft Campus “Refresh” redevelopment is underway next door to Redmond Technology Station. It will add three million square feet of office space, but not much housing and no highrises.
More than 8,000 homes have either been completed in the past decade or are in development near Overlake Station, on the southern edge of Microsoft’s megacampus.
Near Bel-Red Station, more than 3,500 new homes have been built or permitted since 2017. However, development has been patchy due to uneven zoning.
Buoyed by its light rail station and master plan, the Spring District has seen more than 2,000 homes, 4 million square feet of office, and 8,000 parking stalls recently delivered or in development.
We’re starting our transit-oriented development (TOD) series in Downtown Bellevue. Check out how the Eastside’s highrise capital has been growing, with 13,000 homes recently added or in development, in anticipation of East Link light rail’s arrival on April 27.
The stalling out of major downtown redevelopment offers a chance to finetune goals. The Tacoma Town Center, a $300-million project that is to be developed on a 6.4-acre parcel of land near the University of Washington Tacoma campus, is stalled once again. The reasons are typical: Developers have not
Point access block (single-stair) buildings are ubiquitous across the globe, except for North America. Building codes are the big reason why. Debate in recent years has centered on relegalizing them in the United States and Canada, but because the issue is so esoteric, there is still reticence among many to
Since we last checked in on the megaproject/arcology beat, there has been some progress on the new NEOM linear city rising from the sands of Saudi Arabia. Contracts have been awarded, new towns have been developed for workers, and excavation continues apace. You can enjoy their most recent promotional
Seattle Public Utilities is using “No Tap” water mains to extort homebuilders for system upgrades. The gauntlet created by Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) for access to the public water system is taking a toll on new housing, including accessory dwelling units (ADU) infill projects. Only 37% of ADU permits submitted
It is impossible to ignore the construction that is happening throughout the Puget Sound region. Cranes and scaffolding are everywhere. In Q1 2023 alone, the Seattle area had 51 cranes on construction sites which is part of an all-time high number of cranes for North America. “The three top sectors
Tree activists rally, seeking to save a giant red cedar in Wedgwood from the ax. Luma is a healthy old growth Western red cedar in the Wedgwood neighborhood of Seattle with cultural and ecological significance, but it’s under threat of destruction. Luma is currently under an order for removal
Seeking to grow its tree canopy cover, Seattle — a city originally built on logging and carved out of towering old growth forest — has now made it more costly and challenging to cut down a tree. The Seattle City Council voted 6 to 1 yesterday to pass legislation establishing new tree
In this episode, civil engineer and Urbanist contributing writer Donna Breske discusses her experience with the frustrating hurdles posed by the permitting process in Seattle with podcast host Ray Dubicki. Breske works on the kind of urban infill projects that the City of Seattle purports to want to see built,
A City stakeholder meeting on May 25 holds the prospect of improving processes around water system upgrades and permitting. The Urbanist has covered before how water main requirements can be a huge burden on homebuilders and sink projects, and there is the prospect of help on the horizon. The Seattle
Purchasing an abandoned high school for $100,000, three developers carved out a lovely 31 unit apartment building in the Pittsburgh suburb of Homestead, Pennsylvania. The amenities abound at Bowtie High, with lofty ceilings, natural light, and modern fixtures. The preserved auditorium turned community space is amazing, and the developers
Sometimes there is a concept that pops up out of the blue that sounds like solution to so many problems. Among housing advocates in recent months, that idea has been the builder’s remedy. The builder’s remedy is a California law that allows developers to bypass local zoning when
SPU oversteps their authority per state law and overcharges developments for new water service connections. Here’s how to fight back. It is time to take action to prevent Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and and other agencies from mandating egregious and non-code-supported project-crushing exactions. Those seeking to acquire development permits
There’s a saying that the path of progress doesn’t follow a straight line. This has certainly been what I’ve experienced in my two decades of working on Seattle housing policy. When it comes to solving Seattle’s housing crisis, I often see us take one step forward
Hamstrung by rising building costs, Seattle’s seven-year levy would fund 3,000 affordable homes. The Seattle Housing Levy is due for renewal this year, and Mayor Bruce Harrell unveiled a $970 million proposal on Thursday that would more than triple the size of the levy. Due to rising construction,
At a public meeting on Thursday afternoon, the Sound Transit Board of Directors intend to select preferred station locations for the light rail system’s extension to Ballard through a new downtown tunnel. It’s imperative that Sound Transit pick the best station options and communicate that decision to the
There is no spine. There is no Ballard to West Seattle extension. There is no one coming to save us. By 2042, Seattle should have four Link light rail lines covering downtown and branching out to Redmond, Issaquah, Everett, and Tacoma. Though some opening dates are decades away, a lot
Given the amount of construction around town, Seattle’s sidewalks get painted a rainbow of colors. Many know that these markings are important for something, but the specifics seem indecipherable. In short, the markings are for construction and utilities. The markings are coded according to the American Public Works Association’
In this WALeg report, predictable opposition arises against missing middle housing bills. * Also in this digest: * Important Bills at a Glance. * The Week’s Focus: Condominium Act reforms. The legislature’s housing bills faced a small tempest of push back this weekend. Former chair of the House housing committee and
Whenever I write an article or series that charts the development of cities and neighborhoods in the Puget Sound, I always make an effort to walk to the vast majority if not all the development sites that I list to take pictures and check my data. This was no different
Air Conditioning and Summer Insulation are Necessities, Not Amenities. After moving to Seattle in 2020 from Southern California, I was surprised to find that the mysterious knob on my apartment wall didn’t activate an air conditioner. Instead, after a brief period of rattling, I slowly started to feel the
Update: On January 20th, 2023, the City of Kirkland announced that Google will not be proceeding with the sale of the Lee Johnson site and proposed development plan. The tech giant’s development concept is rapidly growing Kirkland’s most ambitious proposal To close out The Urbanist’s series on
“Seismic” buttons in Seattle’s elevators hide ubiquitously in plain sight. When I was new to the city last year, these buttons were a reminder that I had moved in beside a quiet danger. I was intrigued by other reminders. Signage announcing seismic improvements to elementary schools. Housing built beneath
Having covered developments in transforming Totem Lake as well as the Downtown and Rose Hill corridor, what remains to tally up in Kirkland are the developments in smaller nodes of density. Juanita, Finn Hill, and Lake View are among the neighborhoods with some capacity for denser development. These nodes of
SPU’s justification for water main extensions relies on misunderstanding of Seattle Municipal Code. The results can be absurd: $800,000 in water main work for a $700,000 duplex, for example. Permitting systems exist to ensure consistent and predictable outcomes, a benefit for applicants, neighbors, and the city as
Project requirements suggest a pattern of double charging, which nearly sunk a 160-unit affordable housing project in Beacon Hill. Navigating the Seattle permitting system is arduous, unpredictable, and unnecessarily difficult. To make matters worse, hidden within the overall building permit process is a Seattle Public Utilities procedure that places costly
With drone footage showing construction beginning on Saudi Arabia’s half-trillion dollar megaproject called The Line, it’s useful to ask what’s going on in the desert. Stretching over 100 miles inland from the Red Sea, the mirrored, car-less, low-carbon project begs whether the repressive regime is greenwashing its
Weekend construction will delay or reroute several busy transit lines including a Link light rail service interruption that will last into next week. Ongoing projects in spots across town will change bus schedules. Here is your list for the weekend. Highway construction by the various departments of transportation seems to
After Totem Lake, a neighborhood that is experiencing a spree of significant growth, the next notable constellation of new commercial and residential development in Kirkland is occurring around NE 85th Street/Central Way. This corridor primarily consists of the city’s Downtown, which expands into the greater area known as
Yet designing for cars continues to be a problem in the city’s fastest growing neighborhood. When cataloging development in Kirkland, it’s evident where the City has focused much of its development capacity: Totem Lake, a neighborhood defined by its strip malls, car dealerships, car services, light industry, and
Last year, The Urbanist covered a Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS) report suggesting that townhouse development in Seattle might be dropping off a cliff. However, nine months later, data from the City of Seattle shows that townhouse production set a record in 2021 and that 2022
As Sound Transit lays out 90 miles of new track, 57 new stations, and three new light rail lines over the next 20 years, the Chinatown-International District (CID) station is set to become the region’s key transit hub. There will be over 30,000 riders passing through the station
Rumors of a slowdown were averted, but how long can Seattle keep it up with its permitting maze and restrictive zoning unsolved? The pandemic has been tough on the construction industry, but apartment-building is showing signs of rebound, both nationally and in the Seattle metropolitan area. Multifamily construction is the
Sound Transit revealed delayed timelines for its next four light rail extensions Thursday. Defects in concrete plinths in a four-mile section of East Link through Mercer Island and Seattle have caused a delay of at least a year, pushing the expected opening from July 2023 to late 2024. The Federal
During my research and writing of the Downtown Bellevue development articles, I actively estimated the amount of parking spaces that Bellevue had recently added and could add as part of its development boom. Accustomed to Seattle’s parking ratios, my original estimate was that around 10,000 parking spaces would
Buried behind a storm of mammoth projects are yet more potential development proposals in Downtown Bellevue. While these projects don’t possess the scale of the mega-projects addressed in the previous article, they do jockey for their potential place in the city’s skyline and will impact the look and
Among the many projects up for consideration in Downtown Bellevue, a significant faction stands out for the sheer scale of its developments. These projects are defined by being constructed in multiple phases, consisting of multiple mid-rises to skyscrapers, including hundreds of dwelling units, and adding millions of square feet of
Since 2018, a deluge of construction projects in Downtown Bellevue has been completed and begun to form Bellevue’s adolescent skyline. This spree has been in part due to the highly constricted zoning that the city has imposed elsewhere in its jurisdiction. Aside from small pockets in BelRed and Factoria,
Few things perfectly encapsulate the problems of planning like a city’s land use code. Unlike the building code, which dictates the life safety requirements to make sure a building doesn’t burn down or collapse, the land use code simply sets your building’s height, location, and how much
Some of my earliest memories of taking public transit were the times when my maternal grandparents would occasionally walk me and my brother to Northgate Transit Center and bus us down to Chinatown. They would treat the two of us to a meal at Mike’s Noodle House or 来来
Initiated by urban designer Michael Kent back in 2010, the Melrose Promenade is officially breaking ground this week according to an update from the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). When it is completed, the public can expect Melrose Avenue in Capitol Hill to become a safer, more vibrant space for
The transformation of Stone Way, the arterial street delineating the official border between Fremont and Wallingford, continues with another spate of projects. One of the biggest projects of this new phase of development broke ground earlier this month. The Stoneway Electric warehouse has been demolished, an underground 76-stall parking garage
In this episode, reporter Ray Dubicki and I were joined by Doug Trumm, Executive Director of The Urbanist, to discuss the concrete mixer driver strike that’s upended the construction sector throughout the fast growing Puget Sound region. The strike kicked off back in December when workers employed by the
Last week, concrete drivers represented by Teamster Local No. 174 offered to return to work at three of the six concrete companies facing a strike. Those companies have mostly declined to do so, which prolongs the concrete shortage around the region. The concrete drivers’ strike is now in its 125th
More than 4,500 homes have been constructed, permitted, or proposed in the Chinatown-International District since 2019 — 1,240 units of them affordable, based on our roundup of development. Like other neighborhoods in Seattle zoned for apartments, the Chinatown-International District (CID) faces heavy development pressure. These pressures are particularly acute
Last night, Teamster 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks announced an offer to resume to work on behalf of striking concrete drivers at three companies: Cadman Seattle, Lehigh Cement, and Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel. The offer would allow work to go ahead on West Seattle Bridge repairs, the $1.9 billion
Covering development for a city like Seattle gives The Urbanist a unique view into the spots where development concentrates. Even so, it’s useful once in a while to step back and ask what this means for a neighborhood. When does a bunch of houses turn into a unique place?
On Wednesday morning, the Seattle Police Department cleared the sidewalks opposite City Hall of homeless encampments, giving the 16 remaining campers two-hour notice. The surprise sweep ended a two-and-a-half-week standoff with advocates and mutual aid volunteers of the Stop The Sweeps coalition who successfully blocked an earlier attempt to remove
The Teamsters representing local concrete drivers rejected the latest offer from owners, which added just 15 cents to wages over three years. The concrete strike continues, shuttering construction sites across the region, and federal mediation has shown little sign of breaking the impasse. The latest offer from the six largest
There’s a spot just inside Seattle’s Gilman Park where the scent of turned earth and new asphalt mingles with that of cooking grains coming out of West Woodland’s Brewery Row. At this rare moment, the scent of construction is stronger. Surprisingly for the neighborhood, there are currently
The West Seattle High-Rise Bridge will soon become a “very active construction site,” according to an update from the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). As a whole, the repair of the High-Rise Bridge, which has been closed since March of 2020, continues to be on target for completion by June
When we last covered new development coming to the Roosevelt Station area, the Link light rail Northgate extension was still over two years away from opening. Back then, Roosevelt Station was already on the outer perimeter of a growing cluster of old and new mid-rise apartment buildings. For the past
Transportation infrastructure for walking and biking in the Northgate Station area has received a boost as Link light rail arrives in the neighborhood. With Northgate’s light rail station opening imminent, let’s revisit the station area’s existing and incoming conditions. The entrance of Link light rail into Northgate
The numbers come from a new national report, but data from the City of Seattle also indicates a sustained decrease in housing production. According to a recent report published by RENTCafé, apartment production in Seattle is down 19% when compared to 2020, with the number of projected new units set
As the homelessness crisis deepens its impact across the U.S., Washington State designers are improving tiny house designs with the goal of bringing more people into shelter. The first time I stepped into a tiny house constructed for emergency shelter, I was struck by how thin the plywood walls
With their Central Issaquah Plan, zoning updates, and planned communities, in recent years the City of Issaquah has experienced a steady increase in new development, mostly in the form of townhome and apartment housing. In accordance with the city’s zoning map, the development is primarily happening within the Central
With highrises emerging from the University District, neighboring University of Washington (UW) is also preparing to join in on the developing skyline. Of the four divisions that the University of Washington uses to geographically partition its large footprint, West Campus is slated for the most interesting and taller changes. This
When we last covered highrise development in the U District, there were only eight highrise projects somewhere along the permitting and construction process. That number has doubled. Even if we exclude the projects that have seemingly stalled, quite the skyline is starting to potentially form north of the Ship Canal.
Last week, Sound Transit released a survey on the U District Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). The parcel at 1000 NE 45th Street is in question, an undoubtedly highly valuable property with amazing transit access due its placement on NE 45th St and Roosevelt Way NE, with excellent bus access and immediate
If you still need proof that Seattle is not dying, just take a look at the development activity undergone, ongoing, and forecasted in the University District (U District, for short). There’s so much going on in this one neighborhood that this article will be part one of a three-part
In the past two decades, development in and around Northgate has, for the most part, been a bit sleepy. Every few years a new project would complete, but in 2019 three apartment buildings opened. With the Northgate light rail extension to begin service on October 2nd, several projects are currently
Alongside a flurry of commercial and to a lesser degree residential development, the City of Bellevue has been improving and expanding its park system to provide adequate green space for new and existing residents and visitors. The city has only been able to sustain their steady flow of park development
Outside its light rail station areas, Shoreline has seen a noticeable bump in apartment planning, permitting, and construction in the past few years. Upwards of 5,000 new apartments are either in the works or have been built in last couple of years. As prescribed by the suburban city’s
The West Seattle High Rise Bridge safety project has made progress since Mayor Jenny Durkan’s announcement to repair, rather than replace, the West Seattle Bridge. In early January, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crews finished phase one stabilization repairs to the West Seattle Bridge. This moved the project from
Sound Transit is making good on a policy directive to expand bathroom access to facilities and equitable transit-oriented development (TOD) commitments in Seattle. The agency is also making strides to take an even bigger stake in equitable TOD as the transit system grows. In briefings yesterday, agency staff shared details
In December, Councilmember Andrew Lewis introduced legislation that could make it cheaper, easier, and faster to build permanent supportive housing (PSH) in the City of Seattle. If all goes according to plan, PSH providers could trim about 15% from building costs. Permanent supportive housing helps combat the homelessness crisis with
On October 20th, the Seattle Department of Transportation released the WSP-conducted Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA) for the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge Safety Project, and a reader’s guide to the CBA on their blog. The next day, SDOT presented their CBA to the Community Task Force after an introduction on
Is there any credence to the skyscraper index in forecasting economic downturns? Bloomberg Citylab explores this debated theory.
As soon as September 14th, Sound Transit construction in Lynnwood will temporarily close two trails: the Interurban Trail and Scriber Creek Trail. The closure will last up to two years, intermittently in the case of the Interurban Trail. The stretch of Interurban trail between 52nd Avenue South and 44th Avenue
Construction of new apartments has reached a five-year low in Seattle, according to data compiled by RentCafe. While it makes sense that construction would slow down as a result of Covid pandemic, the numbers are still significant. Rentcafe estimates that 29% fewer new apartments will be completed in Seattle in
Impatient for “The Big One,” Pier 58 decided to follow the West Seattle Bridge’s lead and started slipping in to the sound. Seattle Parks and Recreation was alerted to possible acceleration of the pier’s deterioration when a waterline failure was reported on August 5th. The next day, Seattle
Take a gander at the progress of Sound Transit’s new Bellevue light rail tunnel and downtown station opening in 2023 as part of East Link. The agency’s blog, The Platform, has more details about the project.
Seattle Parks and Recreation’s online open house has returned for the Green Lake Community Center/Pool redevelopment project, including the results of the previous open house. The selected and current site, adjacent to Green Lake’s commercial core, received overwhelming support at 75%. None of the other sites even