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Tuesday, February 11, 2025

New Social Housing Developer In City Hall Maybe Coming

The idea for a local developer based in city government is big news now. If the majority of voters in the city approve this initiative, City Hall would fund a Social Housing Developer to first acquire and take over management of existing properties for affordable housing. The office would also while also be involved in philanthropy and grants to create new renter-governed housing in Seattle. 

Should voters decide this is the way to go, the city would hire a chief executive officer and chief financial officer. The positions would be funded by the city for 18 months. Ballots will be mailed later this month for a February special election to decide on I-135, an initiative that would create a new public developer “to build, acquire, own, and manage social housing” in Seattle.

This looks to be a city tool for affordable housing. The ballot initiative would create a renter-led board to form a charter for the authority and lead the development. The initiative includes environmental and labor restrictions including requiring new development to be built to Passive House energy standards and to use union labor. Under the proposal, the public development authority would create and acquire only publicly financed housing and maintain the properties as permanently affordable developments.

I-135 backers claim the initiative would create a city-run, government-empowered, renter-powered entity to help keep buildings affordable. The authority would be funded by the city budget with ongoing funding to be determined from local and state sources with the option to pursue bonds for the public developer.

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Backers of the House Our Neighbors proposal say the new authority would be free of federal constraints on income levels and could be made available to renters with earnings ranging from 0% to 120% of area median income to help create a diverse pool of tenants across the authority’s properties. King County Elections says ballots for the I-135 vote should begin arriving after January 25th for the February 14th election.

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