Mayor's plan links taller buildings, affordable housing

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has taken the first step toward allowing taller buildings in South Lake Union, Sodo and Interbay with a proposal to the City Council that calls for developers to provide affordable housing in exchange for added building height.

Nickels' plan, which likely will ignite a battle between prominent property owners and housing activists, doesn't initially change zoning.

It first would establish a citywide policy before neighborhood-specific proposals were unveiled in coming months. It would mean the days of free boosts in height — and property values — for developers are over. Two years ago, for instance, the city allowed taller buildings on Capitol Hill without getting a contribution from property owners in return.

"We're using our regulatory authority to create wealth, so we think some of that wealth should go to public benefit," Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said.

Some developers, including Vulcan, which owns 60 acres in South Lake Union, are expected to balk.

Modeled after rules the City Council adopted for downtown last year, the mayor's plan would be voluntary. Developers could get more than 100 feet of added height in some neighborhoods if they paid between $15 and $19 per square foot of additional height.

Those funds would finance the affordable housing.

The mayor's proposal would let developers build the affordable units on-site or contribute to a pool of money that would be used to develop them nearby.

The proposal considers apartments affordable if a two-person household making $50,000 a year could afford them. That translates to monthly rent of roughly $1,300.

"It's been long in coming. I think it's needed. The principle is something I support," said Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck, who chairs the council's development and planning committee.

But the Seattle Business Coalition disagrees. The coalition represents 39 neighborhood chambers of commerce, the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Associated General Contractors and the Master Builders of King and Snohomish Counties, spokesman Joe Quintana said.

The proposal "is part of a continuing trend of having business pay disproportionately for a problem that is societywide," Quintana said. "The real way to address this is not to make it more expensive to build housing but to increase capacity to bring down the cost for everyone."

Vulcan is analyzing the mayor's proposal, and company spokesman Michael Nank said "it's premature to make comments on it."

Carla Okigwe, head of the nonprofit Housing Development Consortium, said Vulcan objected to so-called "incentive zoning" for affordable housing last month when a regional group of builders, real-estate people, county officials and housing activists were drawing up recommendations for dealing with Puget Sound's rising housing costs.

"I thought everybody was on board. A number of us were surprised," Okigwe said, adding that some developers would prefer paying for open space instead of affordable housing because they see that as more beneficial to their property.

Okigwe said her group, which builds affordable housing, would like to see a tougher proposal that requires developers to create affordable housing within projects that take advantage of added height.

Steinbrueck said his committee may not get to the mayor's legislation this year. Eventually, though, he expects a bruising debate in City Hall.

"The open question is what are the appropriate fees and what are the appropriate heights. I think the developers want to weigh in on the economics, and neighborhoods are going to weigh in on heights and density, which means more traffic."

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com