News Update : Mayor Bruce Harrell wants to double amount of housing units at Fort Lawton
The Fort Lawton Project has been facing delays over the last three and a half years. Amidst the delay, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has announced a revision in the original plan. The new plan focuses on a greater number of housing units as per the original proposal. The bill was passed approximately 4 years ago but the plan has been there for a good two decades facing several challenges and delays over the years.
The mayor wrote to HUD (US Housing and Urban Development) on 27 Dec outlining his new vision for the project. The initial plan was for 240 housing units but the latest proposal by the mayor outlines the number to be about 500, almost doubling the original number. This proposed change, while seeking to address Seattle's housing crisis, will necessitate additional environmental review and approval from the City Council.
The letter to HUD emphasizes that zoning optimization and per-unit cost reduction are the main factors for this proposed change. The new plan will be in line with the current socioeconomic needs of the city. However, this proposal is not an easy task as the previous proposal still has several unresolved issues. Number one is the HUD approval coupled with an already pending legal battle for the area. All these combined with the extra budgetary cost make this proposal a long shot as of now.
The mayor decided to change the plan because the city faced issues for many years, dealing with expensive infrastructure costs. Concerns from HUD about the project's timeline made the city rethink its choices. The mayor's choice was also influenced by a report from Heartland in October 2022. While earlier estimates suggested over $100 million in costs, Heartland's report said it could be around $30 million. This, along with potential savings from getting the land at a military discount, led Mayor Harrell to go for a bigger housing plan.
The existing 2019 plan involved housing development by the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, Catholic Housing Services, and Habitat for Humanity; creating a mix of housing solutions that include homeless housing for adults, rental spaces, affordable investment options and green space. The new proposal makes it a much denser living area with double the housing units.
The new plan has a bill of $285 million attached to it along with an infrastructure cost of $56 million. The timeline is based on approvals by the city council (March 2025) & HUD (June 2025). The infrastructure work will commence by the end of 2025. However, the plan does not chalk out the date of actual construction initiation. The letter also chalks out the city's history to create affordable housing and how the new plan is directly in line with city values, culture, and tradition. The city is currently working on securing the funding for such a large project from state and federal bodies. Let's see if the plan (old or new) is ever materialized.
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