As Seattle grapples with a housing affordability disaster and watches small manufacturing companies flee because of lack of reasonably priced industrial house, we’ve a chance earlier than us that addresses each challenges directly.
My legislation, quickly to be voted on by the Metropolis Council, will enable building of workforce housing and reasonably priced workspaces for Seattle’s small manufacturing companies, generate living-wage union jobs and enhance public security in a two-block stretch of the Stadium District simply south of T-Cell Park. This proposal, backed by a broad coalition of reasonably priced housing suppliers; labor; native small companies; and neighborhood teams deserves public help and council approval primarily based on information, not worry.
Identical to the brand new downtown waterfront park, this can be a once-in-a-lifetime alternative to remodel an underutilized space right into a “Stadium Makers’ District” the place individuals can stay, work and go to year-round, all whereas guaranteeing our maritime industrial sector maintains Seattle as a global hub for commerce and financial vitality.
Opponents declare housing on this space would intrude with the Port of Seattle’s operations by way of elevated vehicular site visitors. Some have even referred to the proposed housing as an “existential menace” to jobs. However let’s take a look at the information:
● When the Sodo space was rezoned in 2023, the Environmental Affect Assertion concluded that as much as 990 models of housing wouldn’t negatively influence freight mobility, which is why the Most popular Different really useful housing within the Stadium District.
● The realm already accommodates 5 million guests yearly for stadium occasions. The site visitors from this modest housing improvement pales as compared.
● A lodge is already deliberate for First Avenue South and Royal Brougham Method with the Port’s settlement. Present zoning permits industrial and workplace improvement that generates extra site visitors than housing, with out Port objection.
● The 2023 rezone permits 160-foot towers in Sodo’s new Trade and Innovation zone, bringing important commuter journeys — with out Port objection. And the Port itself is courting a Terminal 46 operator for cargo and cruise ships that will add substantial vehicular and pedestrian site visitors.
● Terminal 46 has seen minimal cargo exercise for 5 years. Most cargo accesses Terminal 5 through Spokane Road and West Marginal Method — not First Avenue South or Occidental Avenue South, the place the housing can be.
● Agricultural merchandise from Jap Washington don’t journey down these streets both. They attain Terminal 5 through different routes, whereas grain heads north on Interstate 5 to Terminal 86.
● Infrastructure enhancements at Terminal 5 are anticipated to improve cargo volumes and help extra Longshore jobs, not fewer.
The Port claims the proposed housing space charges lowest on the town’s Access to Opportunity Index. That is false. The Stadium District has a average score, whereas Georgetown — the place the Port agreed to housing on industrial land in 2023 — has a low score.
Concerning geological hazards: A lot of Sodo, Pioneer Sq. and elements of downtown are susceptible to liquefaction in a significant earthquake. The EIS notes that new improvement is optimistic, as new buildings can be constructed to fashionable seismic requirements.
Given these information, the arguments in opposition to housing within the Stadium District don’t appear to carry water. If the issues about job loss had been legitimate, why would 22 union locals representing 173,000 members help this proposal? Why would Seattle Made’s 700 small manufacturing companies again it?
If the Stadium District weren’t acceptable for housing, why would over 200 reasonably priced housing suppliers advocate for this transformation? And why would the Pioneer Sq. and Chinatown Worldwide District neighborhood associations and the 2 public stadium authorities clamor for the elevated activation and security housing would carry?
As Financial Growth chair and a longtime Port supporter, I might not advance laws that will negatively influence our maritime industrial economic system. After thorough consideration, I discover the proof clear: The Stadium Makers’ District represents a wise path ahead.
This proposal will create privately developed workforce housing with a 75-year affordability requirement (at 60%-90% of space median revenue, which in Seattle is $121,000) and supply workspace for struggling small producers — constructed and maintained with 100% unionized labor — with out compromising Port operations or industrial jobs and for gratis to the town.
The Stadium Makers’ District is the fitting resolution for Seattle’s employees, low-income residents, small companies and our metropolis’s evolving future. CB 120933 is scheduled for a full council vote at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 18. It deserves help primarily based on these information, not unfounded fears.
