Seattle Law Eases Office Conversions

A new Seattle city law reduces development requirements for office-to-residential conversion projects, reports Ysabelle Kempe in Smart Cities Dive. 

Average residential rents grew by 32 percent between 2012 and 2022, while Seattle’s office vacancy rate jumped to 25 percent earlier this year, up from 5 percent in 2019. “The law, signed by Mayor Bruce Harrell on Thursday, allows developers who convert buildings to housing to skirt design development standards and avoid requirements to include affordable housing.”

The city’s Office of Planning and Community Development says it expects the law will result in ‘less that a dozen’ projects over the next seven years that could produce 1,000 to 2,000 housing units due to the challenges of adaptive reuse. 

Goals of the adaptive reuse program, according to the city, include a “more balanced use mix of housing and commercial uses in downtown,” avoiding long periods of building vacancy, and the revitalization of downtown neighborhoods.