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Council advances Seattle affordable housing plan
A Seattle city committee unanimously approved changes today to give the local social housing developer more financial power to fund future projects, pending a full council vote next week.
SEATTLE, Wash. - A Seattle City Council committee voted unanimously Wednesday to grant the city’s social housing developer expanded financial authority to fund future housing developments.
The Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee approved the measure, which modifies existing legislative language to give the developer more flexibility as it scales up operations. The legislation now moves to the full Seattle City Council for a final vote next week.
Tiffany McCoy, the interim CEO of the Seattle social housing developer, noted that the legislative changes will not impact local taxpayers.
"The taxpayers are not paying the social housing tax, that's the wealthiest businesses in the city of Seattle," McCoy said.
Expanding Financial Powers
The approved changes allow the social housing developer to use its properties as collateral to secure financing for future projects.
According to the developer’s leadership, the adjustments are vital for securing long-term funding and fulfilling its charter to build, own, and maintain public housing. The policy shift comes just weeks after the developer announced its first major acquisition: a 150-unit apartment building.
"The fact that our lottery was open for two weeks and we had 10,000 people apply is a testament to the deep, deep need," McCoy said.
High Demand and Income Disparities
By the numbers:
Demand for the program's initial housing supply has far outpaced availability. After launching a lottery for the newly acquired building, more than 10,000 people applied for fewer than 15 currently available units.
McCoy says the vast majority of applicants earn less than 50% of the area's median income.
To support incoming tenants, the developer plans to implement a two-year rent freeze and eliminate certain additional costs, such as pet, pest, and utility fees.
Council staff previously raised questions regarding equity, noting that people of color in Seattle face the highest rates of homelessness and rent burden. McCoy pointed to historical systemic inequities as the root cause of these disparities.
McCoy attributed these disparities to long-standing systemic factors.
"That has to do with our historic redlining and not allowing for folks that are Black and Brown to be able to get asset management and wealth generation in the city," McCoy said. "We as a nation put forward these barriers to Black and Brown individuals being able to get mortgages to own homes."
A Different Approach to Affordable Housing
Unlike traditional public assistance programs, the social housing model aims to create mixed-income communities that prevent economic and racial segregation.
Dig deeper:
Because the organization's funding structure differs from traditional affordable housing developments, officials say they can build across all areas of the city, including high-opportunity neighborhoods.
According to McCoy, the flexible financing structure will allow the developer to focus heavily on creating two-, three-, and four-bedroom properties. These larger family-sized units are rarely built by private market developers due to profitability constraints, or by the traditional affordable housing sector due to financing limitations.
The full Seattle City Council is scheduled to vote on the financing adjustments next week. In the meantime, the developer is already evaluating another property acquisition alongside multiple future development sites.
The organization is currently targeting 300 acquisitions for the year, with plans to close on one additional property by the end of the year or early next year. Additionally, the developer is engaged in active negotiations for two to four land sites as it shifts focus toward new construction.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Seattle City Council and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.