City of Seattle

Housing Affordability
and Livability Agenda
Sara Maxana
Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development

Admiral
February 11, 2017
 Investing in our communities

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 Seattle is growing

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 Seattles housing reality

2,942 people are living

without shelter in Seattle.

More than 45,000

Seattle households pay
more than half of their
income on housing.

Average rent for a 1-bedroom

apartment in Seattle increased 35% in
the last five years to $1,641.
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 The HALA goal
In the next 10 years:

30,000 20,000
new market-rate homes affordable homes
Critical to expand Net new rent- and income-
housing options to meet restricted homes
growing demand
Includes new construction and
Continue growth in acquisition rehab
urban centers
About 3x current production
Reduce permitting
barriers New and expanded public and
private resources
Maximize efficient
construction methods Funding programs primarily
serve 60% AMI households
Provide incentives for
family-sized housing Incentive programs primarily
serve 60% to 80% AMI
households
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 HALA in action

Invest in housing Create new

for those most in affordable
need housing as we
grow

Prevent Promote
displacement and efficient and
foster equitable innovative
communities development

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Mandatory Housing
Affordability (MHA)
What is MHA and how does it work?
 What is MHA?
Growth with affordability
All new multifamily and commercial development must either
build or pay into a fund for affordable housing
Provides additional development capacity to partially offset the
cost of these requirements (zoning changes)
Increases housing choices
A state-approved approach other local cities have used

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 MHA and affordability
Market Rents and Affordable MHA Rents
one-bedroom unit
2000
$1,989 = average rent (new construction)
1800

1600
$1,641 = average rent (all units)
1400

1200
$1,009 = rent for an MHA home
60% of Area Median Income (AMI)
1000

800
Affordable for:
600 Administrative assistant
400
A couple earning minimum wage
Elementary school teacher
200

Sources: Dupre+Scott Apartment Advisors, Apartment Vacancy Report, 20+ unit buildings, Fall 2016, Seattle-14 market areas;
9 WA Employment Security Department, Occupational Employment & Wage Estimates, Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA MD, 2014.
 A citywide program
EXISTING PROPOSED
Voluntary Incentive Zoning for Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA)
affordable housing (IZ)

Existing Proposed
Voluntary Incentive Mandatory Housing
Zoning area Affordability area

Manufacturing & Potential

Industrial Center Urban Village
Expansion area

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 An anti-displacement tool
MHA is a strong anti-displacement tool.
Physical and economic displacement are occurring today.
MHA will bring new housing choices especially rent- and
income-restricted units.
MHA is not anticipated to significantly change total amount of
demolition.

Two studies by UC Berkley and the Californias Legislative

Analysts Office
Areas with more development experienced less displacement
Affordable housing requirements in California had not reduced
displacement because they reduced growth

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 Growth and MHA in Admiral

SEATTLE 2035 ESTIMATE BASED ON DRAFT

GROWTH ESTIMATE: MHA ZONING CHANGES:
300 homes 418 homes
over 20 years over 20 years
47-51 affordable homes
through MHA
performance

$1.35-2.27 million for

EXISTING HOUSING affordable housing
1,131 homes through MHA payment
(2015 baseline)

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 Putting MHA into effect
Zoning and urban village boundary changes

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 What is an urban village?

Transportation
Vibrant local businesses options

Community
gathering
places

Amenities &
14 investments
 What is zoning?

Lowrise (LR1)

Residential Small Lot (RSL)

Neighborhood
Lowrise (LR3) Commercial (NC-75)

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 MHA zone changes typical

Affordable:
None required.

Affordable:
4 Units performance; or
$ 622K payment

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 Principles to Guide
MHA Implementation
How the MHA Principles inform the draft
zoning maps

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 MHA Principles
Based on community input Online

Focus Groups &

18Community Meetings
 Core principles
MHA goal is at least 6,000 affordable
homes in the next 10 years
Create affordable housing
opportunities throughout the city
Expand housing options in existing
single-family zones within urban
villages
Expand the boundaries or urban
villages to allow more homes near
good transit
Evaluate MHA implementation using a
social and racial equity lens

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 Evaluate MHA with a racial
equity lens
Consider questions such as:
Who is not at the table with us right now? What does it mean for social equity to propose
Who should be? greater increases in housing density along
arterials?
Renters?
Low-income people? Pedestrian safety
Seniors? Air quality
People of color? Light and noise
English language learners? Adjacency to landscaping and green space
People experiencing homelessness?

What are the tradeoffs of a given idea or When considering various alternatives, what
suggestion? assumptions do we make about people who are
different from us?
Example:
Preserve the character of single family Renters
zones Homeowners
Does this limit who can live in these Low-income individuals
areas? Tech workers
Where should affordable housing go People who have recently moved to the area
instead? Longtime residents
Millennials
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 Principle: Housing Options
Encourage a wide variety of housing sizes, including family-sized homes.

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 Principle: Transitions
Plan for transitions between higher- and lower-scale zones as
additional development capacity is accommodated.

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 Principle: Assets and Infrastructure

Consider locating more housing near neighborhood

assets and infrastructure such as parks, schools, and
transit.

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 Principle: Neighborhood Urban Design

Consider local urban design priorities when making

zoning changes.

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 Reading the MHA maps
Zoning changes to implement MHA

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 Draft MHA zoning maps

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 Map legend

at the top of the draft zoning map

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 Where MHA applies

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 existing zoning | draft zoning

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 Hatched areas
Change from one zoning type to another
(e.g., Multifamily to Neighborhood Commercial)

A change other than a typical amount

(e.g., Single Family to Lowrise 1)

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 What do zoning changes mean?

Establishes rule for the scale of buildings and the

uses that can occur on a site, when redevelopment
occurs

Zoning does not require someone to change or

develop their property

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 Residential Small Lot (RSL)
5,000 sq ft lot
1 existing home plus 1 new home
1 unit or $22K for aff. housing

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 Residential Small Lot (RSL)
6,000 sq ft lot
Existing home converted to 3
stacked apartment units
1 unit or $54K for aff. housing

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 Lowrise 1 (LR1)
5,000 sq ft lot
5 townhouse units (1,300 sf avg.)
1 unit or $86K for aff. housing

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 Lowrise 2 (LR2)

10,000 sq ft lot
8 townhouses
1 unit or $186K for aff. housing

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 Lowrise 2 (LR2)

10,000 sq ft lot
20 apartment units (600 sf avg.)
2 unit or $199K for aff. housing

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 Lowrise 3 (LR3)

5,000 sq ft lot
14 apartment units (630 sf avg.)
1 unit or $146K for aff. housing

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 Neighborhood Commerical

Standard increase is to allow one extra floor

Also proposing additional upper story setback
requirements and maximum building width
Existing NC2-40 requirements
Zoning on NE 45th St.
MHA would allow 1 additional story in new
38 buildings, and require affordable housing.
 Property Taxes
Property Tax = assessed value of property * tax rate
Assessed value will change only if there is increase in value
demonstrated through land sales and development on
comparable sites.
Analysis of single-family property tax rates in Roosevelt in the
several years after zoning changes in 2011 found no change
in tax rates for properties rezoned to Lowrise compared to
those that werent rezoned. This may change in future as more
development occurs.
King County has existing tax reduction for qualifying senior
citizens.

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 What weve been hearing
Concerns about changes to existing single-family zones
Benefits and challenges of growth generally
Questions about impacts on property taxes
Suggestion to expand urban village

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 Your feedback

Does the draft map match the MHA Principles?

Zone changes:
Is the location, and scale of the draft zone change reasonable
to implement MHA affordable housing in this neighborhood?

Single Family rezone areas:

Are the Residential Small Lot (RSL) and Lowrise (LR) zones
proposed in appropriate places?

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 Other ways to participate

Online dialogue HALA Community Neighborhood Urban

Meetings Design Workshops
HALA.Consider.It
12/3 Bitter Lake (10 a.m.- 10/20 N. Beacon Hill
All urban village draft 12 p.m.) 10/29 Roosevelt
zoning maps online for
comment and dialogue. 12/7 West Seattle 11/9 WestwoodHighland
Park
12/13 Roosevelt /
11/15 Crown Hill
Ravenna (6-8 p.m.)
11/29 AuroraLicton
1/10 First Hill (6-8 p.m.) Springs
Citywide mailing
2/4 Columbia City (10 1/9 South Park
~ December 2016 a.m.-12 p.m.) 1/17 Wallingford
1/19 Othello

EIS process 1/26 Alaska Junction

Local meetings & 1/31 23rd & Union
group discussions Mar. 2017 Draft EIS:
Jackson
45-day comment
City staff will attend to period 2/11 Admiral
the extent possible. 2/28 MadisonMiller
May 2017 Final EIS More to come

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 Stay involved
Still want to hear from you
Call HALA Hotline 206.743.6612
Email [email protected]
Attend upcoming meeting, Seattle.gov/hala/calendar
Head to HALA.Consider.It to make online comment
June 30th deadline
for public input on
HALA Committee Draft MHA citywide MHA
Recommendations maps City Council
MHA Action
Frameworks MHA for U-District,
adopted DT/SLU, C/ID, 23rd
HALA Ave, Uptown Citywide MHA
Council to Council
Committee Workplan
convened

2015 2016 2017 2018

Public Engagement on MHA

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thank you.
www.seattle.gov/HALA

HALA.Consider.it

tinyurl.com/MHA-draft-map