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Originally Posted by mhays
The tax would apply to all commercial and multifamily projects. Houses get a free pass.
That's really odd. Houses are the worst offender if the issue is affordability. I don't know where the dividing line would be...four packs are generally good for affordability, but single family houses are bad news from that perspective, since they don't really add to supply. My guess is this is the City Council being afraid of the single-family voters, since they're hypocrites more concerned with politics than affordability.
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Straw man. There are very few if any single family homes getting built in Seattle these days. Nonetheless, SFH is an important part of the housing mix in Seattle and should be in the future.
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Offices, hotels, and retail costs will be up by maybe 8% on average if they're in core areas. The outcome is pretty obvious for those of us who build all of these types...sometimes it'll be worth it, and sometimes it won't.
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It looks like mixed use will be the solution.
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Housing will follow the same economic laws everything else does. A few percent cost increase (or more like the 8% if going fee-only) will cause some people to suck it up and pay more, some demand to move outside the city, some effect on square footage per unit, and so on. It won't stop construction, but there's no question that it'll have a very significant effect.
People attempted the same debates with today's height bonus fees. But the results were just as predictable. In key locations the fees are worth it in today's hot market. In other locations most development is still the lower heights, and the fees are a big reason. Even publicly some clearly say that the fees are the reason for their choices.
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We'll see. I think developers are pretty creative....at least the good ones.