Page 25 - Venture - State of the Market 2020

UPZONING IN GREATER SEATTLE AREA

Seattle HALA and MHA

In September 2014, the Mayor’s Office and the
City Council gathered leaders in our communi-
ty to help develop a bold agenda for increas-
ing the affordability and availability of housing
in our city by convening a Housing Affordabili-
ty and Livability Advisory Committee (HALA).

Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) en-
sures that new commercial and multifamily res-
idential development contributes to affordable
housing. MHA will provide at least 6,000 new
rent restricted, income-restricted homes for
low-income people.
The key element of the proposal is to apply DOWNTOWN KENMORE
affordable housing requirements in all multi- REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT
Courtesy Sea-Tac family and commercial zones, and all urban
villages, consistent with the Seattle 2035
Comprehensive Plan adopted by the City The City is making progress in implementing
Council. the community’s vision of downtown Kenmore
as a walkable place with a public square
With MHA, new buildings must include af- where Kenmore-area residents and workers
fordable housing (performance option) or can meet their daily needs and see one an-
contribute to the Seattle Office of Housing other face-to-face.
fund to support the development of affordable
housing (payment option). MHA requirements Kenmore’s downtown redevelopment (approx-
vary based on housing costs in each area of imately 9.6 acres of property at the north-
the city and the scale of the zoning change. west corner of 68th Avenue NE and NE 181st
Higher MHA requirements apply in areas with Street—property that, from 1999 to 2005, the
higher housing costs and larger zoning chang- City purchased and assembled for downtown
es. With the performance option, between development) is well underway, with new
5 percent and 11 percent of homes in new private sector investment in what was formerly
multifamily residential buildings are reserved known as downtown Kenmore approaching
for low-income households. With the payment $100 million since 2014.
option, development will contribute between
$5.00 and $32.75 per square foot.
From 2015-2017, City Council voted unani-
mously to establish MHA requirements and
rezones in the following communities: Uni-
versity District, Downtown, South Lake Union,
Chinatown-International District, along 23rd
Ave in the Central Area, and Uptown. In 2018,
the Council, supported by City staff, will con-
tinue to engage communities as it considers
MHA implementation citywide. The Council
has announced a slate of open houses and
hearings across the city through August 2018
so that more community voices can shape the
proposal.

http://www.kenmorewa.gov
VENTURE | 2020 STATE OF THE MARKET 23