Here’s an update on the ‘Grand Bargain’ that came out of Seattle’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) task force, made up of Seattle’s developers, housing advocates and policy wonks. It’s a bit technical, but raises some interesting issues for Vancouver – like why is there no serious debate about either linkage fees or mandatory inclusion?
On one side of the debate were task force members who wanted those profiting most from Seattle’s building boom to pony up for the less fortunate among us. On the other side, developers who threatened to sue if the city tried to require too much. “There were guns under the table,” said Alan Durning, HALA member and executive director of progressive advocacy organization Sightline Institute. According to Durning, the developers said they’d end the standoff if their opponents offered a better deal.
The result is … the “Grand Bargain” – an unlikely agreement between the city, affordable housing advocates, non‐profits and developers to either add or fund affordable housing …
The measures agreed to in the Grand Bargain would add 6,000 affordable units over ten years. That’s 30 percent of the mayor’s 20,000‐unit goal. “… The HALA recognized we can only achieve that through a partnership with non‐profit, for‐profit and the city.” The city has long offered developers tax exemptions and extra height in exchange for affordable housing. But the time, it seemed, had come to actually require developers to provide affordable units or pay up.
To that end, the Grand Bargain uses two main tools. The first is “commercial linkage fees,” which are charged to commercial developers on a per square foot basis, and used to fund affordable housing. Housing advocates pushed for linkage fees on residential development, too, but that led to the standoff with developers. Instead, the HALA committee shifted to a second tool, “mandatory inclusionary housing,” which requires residential developers in certain parts of the city to make 5‐7 percent of their units affordable to low‐income residents or pay a fee. In exchange for those units, developers may add extra height to their buildings, which means more units and, theoretically, more money.
These two measures alone are slated to add 6,000 affordable units over 10 years – about 3,500 through inclusionary housing and 2,500 from the funds earned through commercial linkage fees. The question is, how confident can the city be that these important parts of the HALA recommendations will withstand legal challenges?
Full article here.
Seattle’s HALA Report and the debate and discussion that’s followed is worth following by all those interested in affordable housing in Vancouver – definitely worth pursuing further.