Councilmember Foster Proposes Temporary Fee Reduction to Accelerate Housing Construction in Seattle
Seattle Councilmember Dionne Foster, chair of the Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights committee, has introduced legislation aimed at stimulating stalled housing projects by temporarily reducing Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) in-lieu fees. The proposal offers an 80% reduction in MHA fees for currently vested projects that begin construction within the next two years. New projects that vest by the end of 2027 could receive a 60% fee reduction, provided at least 25% of their units are family-sized (two or more bedrooms) and they are not located in areas with high displacement risk. This initiative seeks to address a significant decline in housing project applications, which have reportedly fallen by nearly 95% since 2020, attributed to factors such as war, tariffs, and higher interest rates. The legislation is accompanied by a resolution indicating the Council's intent to explore inclusionary requirements for new market-rate residential developments in Neighborhood Residential zones.
