(The Center Square) – Downtown Seattle has made steady progress toward Mayor Bruce Harrell’s goal of converting the area into a more residential neighborhood this year.
The Downtown Seattle Association publishes monthly data regarding the downtown’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Data for the month of December has not been published yet.
Overall data trends point to the downtown area’s rapid transition into a more residential neighborhood.
In the past year, the downtown area’s residential population grew by nearly 2,400, reaching more than 108,000. In comparison to Seattle’s peer cities of Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, Austin, Boston and Salt Lake City, downtown Seattle leads with more than 4,000 residential units currently under construction.
There are more than 14,000 housing units proposed or in final planning stages.
“With more than 4,000 residential units under construction, we’re not only a leader among our national peers, we’re also attracting the next generation of downtown residents,” Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes said in a statement on Monday. “The confidence investors have in our downtown is evident, and the steady growth in residential development and some continued investment in commercial projects shows the strength of our city as an economic and cultural hub.”
The rapid growth of housing construction is related to recently-passed legislation that intends to speed up the development of housing in key neighborhoods, including downtown Seattle.
In October, the city approved a bill that creates a three-year exemption from the design review process for projects that provide housing, lodging, and research and development.
These projects can only occur within the downtown core, along with a few other Seattle neighborhoods.
The city expects the exemption to reduce the time for the planning and design process by six to nine months.
Harrell created the Downtown Activation Plan in 2023, which seeks to make downtown safer and more welcoming. This includes filling vacant storefronts, converting office space to housing and creating what his office calls a “linear arts-entertainment-culture district.”
This was in part due to the lackluster progress the downtown area has made in workers returning to their downtown offices.
Last month, the downtown area averaged nearly 91,000 workers per weekday, a 5% increase from November 2023.
However, the 91,000 workers only represents 56% of November 2019’s weekday average.
Notably, the November averages in 2023 and 2024 exclude Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
This year saw the month with the highest return to office in July when 72% of 2019 averages were recorded.
Downtown Seattle could see improved statistics next year as a result of Amazon requiring its workers to return to their offices five days a week starting at the beginning of next year.
