Summary

The King County Budget and Fiscal Management Committee on Tuesday approved an amendment that clears the way for the last stage of a major mixed use development that will add 40 new affordable homes in the Pioneer Square neighborhood.

Story

The King County Budget and Fiscal Management Committee on Tuesday approved an amendment that clears the way for the last stage of a major mixed use development that will add 40 new affordable homes in the Pioneer Square neighborhood.

Pending a full King County Council vote, 55% more affordable homes will be built as a result of the North Lot Development than what was originally envisioned in the initial 2007 agreement. In the end, this public-private partnership will generate 696 units onsite, of which at least 70 will be affordable to people earning at or below 70% Area Median Income (AMI), which is roughly $73,000 for a family of four. In addition to the onsite addition of affordable homes, North Lot Development LLC has paid for 85 new affordable units at nearby Hirobayashi Place. With those units, a total of 155 affordable homes will have been added in the area as a result of the North Lot development, far exceeding the original expectation.

The additional 40 units were made possible through the use of Seattle’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE). The agreement requires that 10 of the new affordable apartments have two bedrooms to ensure families have access to these new homes.

“The Regional Affordable Housing Task Force heard repeatedly from the community that multiple bedroom apartments are a critical need,” said Claudia Balducci, County Council Vice Chair and Budget and Fiscal Management Committee Chair. “Families throughout King County, and especially in downtown Seattle, struggle to find homes that can accommodate the whole family and I thank North Lot Development for being creative in finding ways to increase the number of affordable two bedroom units.”

Further, North Lot Development LLC is proposing to include the 496 apartments it has already built on the site in its City of Seattle MFTE application. If this proposal goes forward, 70 apartments located onsite – in addition to the 40 stipulated in the County agreement – would be converted to affordable housing, thus bringing the total number of affordable units built because of North Lot to 225.

“Daniels Real Estate has been working with King County for over a decade to provide housing for all income levels in Pioneer Square,” said Kevin Daniels, President of Daniels Real Estate, which is a joint-venture partner in North Lot Development LLC. “We are pleased once again to include workforce units in our future project. We did so with the first phase of the North Lot development and are the first to include moderate income condominium homes at Gridiron. It’s important that our city’s first neighborhood be one of economic and social equity.”

“The willingness of the developer to apply for MFTE for already built units is an essential step in stemming the loss of homes that people at lower incomes can afford,” said Balducci. “That these homes are in the core of Seattle and have easy access to jobs and transit makes them all the more valuable.”

The Alliance for Pioneer Square has voiced support for the amendment to the development agreement to add more housing, notably affordable homes. “The Pioneer Square community welcomes these improvements to the final phase of the North Lot development that has already added new residents to reinvigorate the neighborhood,” said Alliance for Pioneer Square Executive Director Lisa Howard. “More housing, which will include both affordable and family homes, means Pioneer Square can continue to thrive by welcoming residents of all income levels."