One thing is clear: The skyline on the south shore of Lake Union is going to reach new heights. The issue of affordable housing had been less clear — until Monday.
The Seattle City Council's South Lake Union committee voted unanimously Monday on an amendment that nearly doubles workforce affordable housing in South Lake Union from a previous plan, which means developers wishing to build in the neighborhood must work harder to cater to all income levels.
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and Vulcan Real Estate originally pitched a 240-foot, or 24 stories, height limit for new buildings in the South Lake Union Urban Center, and a $15.15 fee per extra square foot to build above that height. This proposal was rebuffed by the Seattle City Council, which decided that 160 feet, or 16 stories, would best suit the community.
In 2004 the Department of Planning and Development set 20-year growth targets in their Comprehensive Plan. They assigned to South Lake Union a 17 percent share of citywide housing growth and a 19 percent share of citywide employment growth, which would provide an estimated 12,000 new dwellings and 22,000 jobs by 2031 according to the report.
On Monday the city council reached consensus after a compromise was made between two plans that were introduced the previous week. The unanimous vote aims to strengthen the city’s already existing incentive zoning program, which makes developers who build above the height limit pay an additional fee per square foot or provide affordable housing to the public within their housing projects. The last update the council made to the incentive zoning program was in 2008, where they came up with a goal to produce 5 percent of affordable, workforce residential units in the area of the development. Councilmember's say that inflation will inevitably cause the fees to go up.
As a result of Monday’s vote, the new fee agreed upon is $21.68, which was put forth by Councilmember Mike O'Brien in his original plan. This measure represents a 43 percent increase from the original residential pay-in-lieu price of $15.15, effective immediately. The city council also decreed that there will be a 33 percent increase in the price of commercial housing over the next 18 months, reaching $29.71. The combined provisions will add an estimated 733 units of workforce housing, a large increase from the 405 units that would have been created in the original legislation.
"Today’s decision is an important, modest step toward securing more affordable workforce housing in South Lake Union, so that people at all income levels who work in the neighborhood have a chance to live there," O'Brien said at the meeting. "This is a community of opportunity where the city is investing over $500 million in public infrastructure, and I think it only fair that the benefits of this redevelopment are shared more broadly.”
Some Queen Anne residents are worried that views from east Queen Anne towards the lake, Capitol Hill and the city’s skyline will be adversely affected by the rezone. The city council assures those residents they will do their best to protect public views.
Queen Anne Community Council President Ellen Monrad says that the council hasn’t taken a position on the rezone and that the issue hasn't formally come before them. But she noted that in a Land Use Review Committee meeting in mid-April it was fairly obvious that many people were against the addition of new housing in South Lake Union. Half of the residents at the meeting were from Dravus Street, and they voiced their concern that they didn't want to see areas along Dravus rezoned with commercial buildings.
"Queen Anne is trying to preserve single family housing, not decrease it," Monrad said.
Monrad added that the community council believes that Seattle needs to support industrial housing, but she doesn't like the idea of constructing apartments in places like Interbay.
Councilmember Richard Conlin, who is chair of the Special Committee on South Lake Union, says that developers have signaled that they are willing to work with the new legislation.
"We've got something here that is workable and right for the community," Conlin said.
Councilmember Jean Godden says the revitalized incentive zoning program shows that the council is committed to keeping Seattle affordable for those with low-incomes.
“It all goes back to why so many people come to Seattle — they come because we are a city of inclusive neighbors, not just a copy of someplace else, “Godden said at the meeting. “A strengthened incentive zoning program reaffirms our commitment to inclusive and affordable neighborhoods.”
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