Seattle mayor signs 3-year design review bypass to streamline downtown development

(The Center Square) – Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell recently signed legislation that reduces the design process time to bolster housing development in the downtown area.

The bill creates a three-year exemption from the design review process for projects that provide housing, lodging, and research and development. Projects have to be within the downtown core, South Lake Union, the Uptown neighborhood, First Hill and parts of the Greater Duwamish Manufacturing and Industrial Center.

The city expects the exemption to reduce the time for the planning and design process by six to nine months.

The design review largely entails building aesthetics, according to the city. Despite the new exemption, any development proposals would still need to obtain permits from the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections that relate to land use, health, safety, and building code.

The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections is primarily supported by its fees and charges. However, declining permitting activity and revenues in the department’s Construction and Inspections Fund have led to 20 positions being cut as part of the proposed 2025-2026 budget .

Through August 2024, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections issued permits totaling $1.7 billion in project valuation. The department anticipates an additional $1.5 billion in intake valuation for the rest of 2024.

Harrell’s newly-signed legislation is another action to help enforce his Downtown Activation Plan , which has a goal of transforming the downtown area into a more residential neighborhood.

“The Downtown Activation Plan is our blueprint to revitalize Seattle’s downtown core as a safe, active, and vibrant shopping, cultural and entertainment, employment, and residential destination for families, workers, and visitors,” Harrell said in a news release . “This legislation establishes a more efficient, flexible design review process that will reduce the amount of time and cost of development, cutting through red tape to make new projects easier and more cost effective to build.

Last year, the Seattle City Council passed legislation that speeds up the environmental review process so residential building developers can build housing in the downtown area faster.

Harrell’s office touted the success of the Downtown Activation Plan in recent months. For instance, there were more than 3 million visitors in downtown Seattle in September, with downtown hotel occupancy reaching 100% of pre-pandemic demand.

Data from the Downtown Seattle Association shows signs of increasing growth of residential occupancy in the downtown core. In September, the number of occupied apartment units downtown reached nearly 59,000. That is a 15% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.