A single person earning between $25,000 and $30,000 a year can find an affordable place to live in Tacoma. That is increasingly difficult to do in Seattle. An official with that city’s government has advice for how Tacoma can avoid heading down that road.
Adrienne Quinn, director of the Office of Housing for the city of Seattle, shared her insight on affordable housing during the July 6 meeting of Tacoma City Council’s Neighborhoods and Housing Committee.
Rising housing costs in Seattle are taking the biggest toll on the elderly, disabled and very poor, according to Quinn. “These people are very vulnerable.”
Seattle has a housing levy, by which voters agree to additional taxes to subsidize housing. Quinn said these funds are targeted at the very poor. Other policies are aimed at working people whose incomes put them in the middle class or lower-middle class – the people getting priced out of the city.
The council has considered inclusionary zoning, a policy that requires a certain number of units in new developments be set aside for households earning a targeted income. Kirkland has such a policy. Quinn said Seattle does not because of concerns over its legality from its city attorney.
Seattle has a property tax exemption for multi-family housing developments, as does Tacoma. One difference is Seattle requires an affordable housing component for a developer to qualify.
About 2,000 units in Tacoma have received this tax break. The number is much higher in Seattle, where 1,500 units of affordable housing alone have received it. “It is moving projects along that otherwise would not pencil for developers,” Quinn said.
The strongest base of support for affordable housing policies in Seattle comes from developers aiming for the middle class, rather than those building high-end, luxury condominiums, Quinn noted.
Incentive zoning has been successful in Seattle. It is an optional policy. There must be a benefit for developers, such as lifting height restrictions, Quinn explained.
Developers can either set aside 17.5 percent of their bonus area for affordable housing, or pay $19 for each square foot of bonus area.
Having good lines of communication between advocates for affordable housing and developers has been crucial in Seattle, Quinn said.
She noted that former King County Executive Ron Sims recently accepted a position in Washington, D.C. with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Under the administration of President Barack Obama, funding for housing will be a high priority and Sims could steer some of these federal funds here. “Tacoma could be positioning itself to capture some of that money,” Quinn said.
Quinn mentioned Rainier Valley, a working-class section of South Seattle. Once Sound Transit’s light rail begins operating, which will happen later this month, developers are going to move forward with planned projects. She predicted this will price many blue-collar workers out of the area.
See praised Tacoma officials for planning for affordable housing now. “There is a lot of foresight in what you are doing. You will experience what Seattle did. People will be pushed out,” Quinn warned. “We are late to the game. Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond – they all realize they have lost the middle class.”
Commenting rules
Tacoma Weekly is happy to provide a forum for commenting and discussion. Please respect and abide by the house rules:
Keep it clean, keep it civil, keep it truthful, stay on topic, be responsible, share your knowledge, and please suggest removal of comments that violate these standards.
Read full commenting rules