Oh boy. I'm sure the developers are really screaming and tearing their hair piece off. 6,000 in 10 years. At this rate of city planning and tear down, that probably will be all that's available in total across the city in 10 years.
The headline should say, Mike O'Brien "was forced" into the Grand Bargain. He lost this one, but The Stranger spin says otherwise...at least he is smarter than Licata and Sawant..
We can appreciate the energy that the Mayor has focused on creating a city where people of all income levels can afford to live. However, much of the report and all the upzoning focuses on simply building more market-rate housing by adding a floor to all multifloor zones throughout the city, and by easing restrictings on mother-in-law apartments and backyard cottages. Building more units and building units affordable to workers making $38,000 or less are two different things. The inclusionary workforce units in exchange for the extra floor is hopeful, but overly timid.
I'm most concerned with the funding sources. Four of them depend on action by the State Legislature, and you know they are not inclined to do Seattle any favors. We will have essentially the same "just say no" legislature in 2016 as in 2015. Don't count on the State Housing Trust Fund to deliver much. The amount in the State Housing Trust Fund budget is $75 million for two years=$35M/year. King County's share is approximately 1/3=$12M and if Seattle gets half, that's $6M, or 24 units.
We really need the full linkage fee on residential and commercial development that Jon Grant proposes, for $1.2 billion, with 2/3 of the units affordable to seniors and people with disabilities living on Social Security, <30%AMI. We also need the $500 billion in General Fund bonds called for by Kshama Sawant to pay for an affordable land bank, bridge loans to non-profit developers and maintenance loans to small local owners in exchange for moderate rents for years.
And where is the money to build schools for all those new inhabitants' children going to come from without linkage fees? Seattle Public Schools are already stuffed to the rafters!
This is a fucking joke. The One Night Count found 10,047 homeless people in Seattle last winter. At this rate, 5 or 6000 "affordable" houses over TEN YEARS will do absolutely nothing to alleviate this crisis. The Mayor, the City Council, and the State Legislature are living in a fucking fantasy world.
In what way was the article "updated"? Why not post a Correction? Did you say something Mike O'Brien didn't favor? Why not just print his Press Releases?
A bargain indeed.
"A Holocaust on Cottonwood Trees!" - John Fox, Displacement Coalition
You go, Mike O'Brien!
I'm most concerned with the funding sources. Four of them depend on action by the State Legislature, and you know they are not inclined to do Seattle any favors. We will have essentially the same "just say no" legislature in 2016 as in 2015. Don't count on the State Housing Trust Fund to deliver much. The amount in the State Housing Trust Fund budget is $75 million for two years=$35M/year. King County's share is approximately 1/3=$12M and if Seattle gets half, that's $6M, or 24 units.
We really need the full linkage fee on residential and commercial development that Jon Grant proposes, for $1.2 billion, with 2/3 of the units affordable to seniors and people with disabilities living on Social Security, <30%AMI. We also need the $500 billion in General Fund bonds called for by Kshama Sawant to pay for an affordable land bank, bridge loans to non-profit developers and maintenance loans to small local owners in exchange for moderate rents for years.
High property taxes and mansion busting are the solution.