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Mayor Bruce Harrell has announced that the City of Seattle is advancing efforts to develop an improved redevelopment plan for increased affordable housing at Fort Lawton, a former military installation currently owned by the U.S Army and available at a significantly discounted land cost for dedicated use as affordable housing or parks.
The proposed plan will include rental units, workforce housing, and homeownership opportunities, as well as permanent supportive housing for veterans and seniors who have experienced homelessness. The city will be working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Army as it seeks to move forward on this proposed revision.
Building on an earlier redevelopment plan that was approved by City Council in 2019 and then delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, an improved plan would build as many as 500 units of affordable housing, optimizing the number of affordable homes to address Seattle’s housing crisis, while significantly lowering per-unit costs. These additional units offset some of the considerable infrastructure costs required for the project while maintaining 22 acres for open space, parkland, and wildlife conservation adjacent to Seattle’s majestic Discovery Park.
“The scale of our affordability and homelessness crises requires us to make the wisest possible use of our limited housing dollars in order to achieve the largest possible impact,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “In a city of 84 square miles, the Fort Lawton Redevelopment Plan is a unique opportunity to transform 34 into a new community that will last for generations – we must make the most of it. This is our One Seattle vision in action – a city with affordable homes and communities where every Seattle neighbor can access the good jobs, schools, and supports needed to grow and succeed.”
Catholic Housing Services and Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King and Kittitas Counties are the developers for the plan, and United Indians of All Tribes will be the service provider for the permanent supportive housing at Fort Lawton. The plan would use previously approved zoning capacity to bring affordable housing to the Magnolia area, providing access to housing, education, retail, and employment opportunities not typically available in this neighborhood to lower income families and individuals.
Harrell began working with City departments and outside consultants after taking office in 2022 to analyze infrastructure needs and costs for the 2019 Fort Lawton Redevelopment Plan. The property requires major infrastructure construction, demolition of unsafe buildings, and upgrades to roads, power, water, and sewers – challenges that have been a leading cause of planning and project delays over the years. The additional analysis conducted by the City since 2022 revealed opportunities to reduce per-unit infrastructure costs not only by increasing the number of units but by altering the approach to street and other infrastructure improvements.
Approval is required by City Council for the new plan, as well as from the federal government for the land transfer to the City. A new Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement process will be conducted, with opportunity for public comment, followed by the Office of Housing submitting the amended redevelopment plan to City Council and to HUD. The City expects to begin infrastructure design and construction in the second half of 2025, after completion of the processes outlined above and a request for proposals for infrastructure work in the second quarter of 2025.