On Friday the Times reported that the Mullally family and affordable housing advocates, who appealed the DPDs proposed rezone, have negotiated a settlement that would require a minimum of 66 affordable units (50% Area Median Income, AMI) in any new development and then an additional 10% of housing units above 660 to be affordable. With this agreement the rezone from MR to NC3-85 will move forward to the city council. This is the only parcel along Northgate Way in the Northgate Urban Center that currently is not zoned NC. From the Times:
With an agreement in place, the advocate groups plan to support the rezoning plan, which will be considered by a city hearing examiner and eventually go before the City Council.
John Mullally, managing member of the family-owned business, called the agreement unprecedented.
“This will provide predictability and certainty if and when it is developed,” Mullally said. “It is really a win for everybody.”
This seems like a good compromise!
Although I think there’s plenty of value in increasing the stock of housing in the area and working the cost down as much as possible that way, I do hope that they’re able to build as close to 2200 units (the rough maximum according to the Planning department, according to the previous post here) as possible so they can replace the affordable housing that’s currently there (207 units).
Note that what’s there now isn’t all rented to low income folks.
The housing that’s there isn’t affordable by statute, but just affordable because they are small, old apartments.
They are not going to build 2000 units there, that is a really massive number. There was someone saying that that Yesler Terrace project (on 30 acres right downtown) was too big with 3000 new units. 2000 new units in far North Seattle is just too many. Something like 10% of what the city expects to see built in the next 20 years.
Umm, there are 1.5 Million people forecast to arrive in the Puget Sound area in the next 20 years. We want them to be in our urban centers. So, no, 2000 units is not too many to build. In deed, we need to be planning on the order of 50,000-100,000 units or more in the next several years.
Maybe you are right, but the property owners don’t seem to be interested in building that many units, and I don’t blame them. That’s a huge economic risk to try to rent thousands of units of housing.
Hmm, the midrise zone is awfully constrained. I suppose this is a decent first step, so long as it doesn’t preclude additional rezoning surrounding the opening of the Northgate station. If Lynnwood is planning on high-rises, so should Northgate.
Lynnwood’s city government is trying to create an urban center, and they are using the light rail’s (eventual) arrival as a catalyst to look something more like Bellevue (hopefully without some of the pretensiousness). I don’t see Seattle expressing any interest in high-rises at Northgate; higher density and less parking lots, absolutely.
I hope Lynnwood does a better job. DT Bellevue is not a nice place to walk around.
Northgate doesn’t necessarily need highrises per se, but some density should be allowed.