Forecast cloudy for social housing in Seattle "How much faith do Seattle voters have in the city’s new publicly-owned social housing developer? Two ballot measures that will be on February's special election ballot offer two very different answers, by either ramping up or holding back the organization's momentum." (KUOW)
Seattle Council Streamlines Development Downtown with 3-Year Design Review Bypass "By a 8-1 vote Tuesday, the Seattle City Council approved a bill allowing downtown housing and hotel projects to circumvent the volunteer-run design review boards for the next three years, providing a quicker permitting path. The move is intended to spur development in areas of downtown sorely in need of more mixed-use development, but the bill will also serve as a major experiment in bypassing design review meetings, which have long been maligned for adding unpredictability and costs to new housing, causing a chilling effect on homebuilding." (The Urbanist)
Seattle City Council lifts 10-year-old affordable housing restrictions "A new state law that requires cities to allow micro-apartments in any urban growth area forced city council members to address Seattle's 10-year-old restrictions." (Puget Sound Business Journal)
Seattle’s office real estate market still sluggish "In the past year, the city has seen the biggest dip in office construction of any major metro in the West, according to a new report. Nearly a quarter of downtown office space is empty." (Washington State Standard)
