Housing

According to a 2024 report on housing production from Up For Growth, the metro area encompassing Seattle, Tacoma, and Bellevue is facing a shortage of 71,060 homes. That amounts to 4.2% of the region’s total housing stock. While the production of new homes is vital to closing the gap between supply and demand, so is the preservation of existing housing, especially affordable housing. A recent op-ed in the Seattle Times called on Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell to suspend the city’s winter eviction moratorium, a law that halts evictions for the nonpayment of rent from December through March every year. The article is authored by Sharon Lee, executive Director of the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI), and Emily Thompson, a partner at GMD Development. LIHI Read More ›

According to a recent survey commissioned by Redfin Real Estate, the majority of U.S. residents are in favor of caps on rent increases. When presented with the statement, “there should be caps on the amount landlords are allowed to increase rent,” 82% of respondents agreed. This significant majority holds regardless of political party or homeownership, though Democrats and renters were about 7% more likely to favor rent caps than Republicans or homeowners. What are “rent caps”? A more familiar term for the government regulation of rent increases is “rent control.” According to the National Apartment Association (NAA), only seven states, in addition to the District of Columbia, have enacted rent control policies locally or statewide. Interestingly, an online poll from the NAA revealed that respondents living Read More ›

Steve Hickey was stripped of his duties as a Ravensdale volunteer firefighter. It seems like controversy always follows this guy. But he still remains a Commissioner since it’s an elected position. Regardless, Hickey is now being pressured to quit. The findings from an independent investigation into Hickey were supposed to be released this month but it’s now been delayed. Unclear why. The next Ravensdale Fire board meeting is December 10.

Last week, GRE Downtowner, LLC (GRE) filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle, arguing that the city’s policies have destroyed the livability and economic viability of GRE’s Addison on Fourth apartment building. The Addison on Fourth is an affordable housing building nestled between Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square and Chinatown-International District. The lawsuit alleges that the city has forced the Addison to either continue operations in service of a public good at a massive private loss, or to shut down operations entirely. Both options GRE describes as “disastrous.” To understand why a privately-owned housing building is in default, facing over $40 million in liabilities, and “hemorrhaging money,” in an affluent west-coast city, we must look at a series of Seattle Read More ›