New legislation under consideration by the Seattle City Council this week could create more co-living and congregate-style housing in the city.
With changes in state law, legislation coming in front of the council’s land use committee this week would update the city’s regulations to remove decade-old state restrictions placed on congregate housing that were hoped to stem the tide of microhousing.
The city says the restrictions worked and the production of new congregate housing dropped in Seattle. Changes in state law to open up zoning to new co-llving developments are now sparking an update that will allow the housing type in more areas of the city including all multifamily and even lowrise areas of the city.
Under the regulations, congregate residence means “a use in which sleeping rooms are independently rented and lockable and provide living and sleeping space, and residents share kitchen facilities and other common elements with other residents in a building.”
CHS reported here on the 2016 opening of Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing on 12th Ave where a group of families worked together to develop the five-story residential building as equal partners,
Meanwhile, the city began a decade ago restricting microhousing development to only certain areas of the city including Capitol Hill and the Central District. The new legislation would open up more of Seattle to the housing type.
Proponents of the bill and sponsor Tammy Morales say the changes will help address Seattle’s housing supply while encouraging “a relatively lower cost housing option without direct subsidy.” Examples provided in a presentation on the legislation (PDF) show the potential for lower rents and housing costs for residents.
If passed, the provisions of CB 120822 would be incorporated into the Land Use Code by the end of 2025.
CORRECTION: When originally published, this article referenced the Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing development as an example of projects this change could encourage. This was not accurate. Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing is not congregate housing.
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From the PDF it looks like CB 120822 does exactly what’s required to comply with ESSB 1998, and nothing else, which I guess makes sense. Thank you to our state legislators for forcing the city council to recognize our right to co-housing. I’m always shocked at how cheap quoted prices for co-housing are, the PDF suggests $850-950 for market rate units.
“TY for co-housing?”
You thank them? Wow…I think you need to live in a co-housing situation. Then get back to me. I’ll wait.
yes why won’t the city outlaw more housing types? that clearly leads to more housing
There’s a reason there’s a restriction that’s been around forever.
The way you curb micro apartments? Is regulate them.
I am associated with affordable housing. Real apartments for below market rates. It can be done and the millionaires can pay their fair share.
You go live in one and see how it works?
You can already get a studio apartment with at least a “kitchenette” (fridge, sink, microwave and enough counter space to stick a one or two burner portable cooktop) and your own bathroom for less than $1000…. (even on Capitol Hill). A quick search turns up multiple options that aren’t even income restricted.
Been there, done that, lived in a dorm for two years, go the hell out ASAP.
These people are probably developers who say it’s a wonderful solution.
Why was this a bad idea in the past and why is this a good idea now? Why can’t the market provide adequate non-micro housing?
They can build more affordable, long term apartments. It’s cheaper for Amazon et ilk if we stack shipping containers on eachother all in a huge pile. No need to have the population spread out among the city. It’s full on NIMBY tactics. Save the rich money. Make land developers rich.
Wait how is Amazon making money off of congregate housing being illegal?
mkay troll
Basically this seems like it opens the door to Tenement housing in Seattle. I don’t know how I feel about that.
Just “no” is all anyone needs to feel. It’s such a horrible idea.
More horrible than homelessness? Banning cheap forms of housing does not magically make people able to afford less-cheap forms of housing; it just pushes them out onto the street. You may not want to live in an SRO, but nobody is asking you to. We should make them available for everyone who cannot afford more.
Less horrible to build homes people will stay in. Not a closet with a shared bathroom and kitchen. Millionaires pay their fair share.
Or did you not comprehend the article?
Sometimes a closet with a shared bathroom and kitchen is all that someone can afford. What’s your solution for those folks? “Sorry, if you can’t afford the minimum level of comfort I would accept for myself, you must live on the street instead?” Seems awfully inconsistent of you, unless you happen to be one of those rare souls who enjoys living on the street.
$1k month do a bedroom with shared everything. Lots of MIL type spaces in Seattle sit empty because of fear of difficulty of eviction. If Seattle was to provide a simpler approach for shared spaces in homes I think a lot more affordable rentals would appear. Also a lot on Airbnb for same reason.
This would work for a lot of people who would enjoy the mutual benefits of family life without having one of their own. Young families, recent graduates, and empty nesters who still enjoy being around younger people could all benefit from this.
really?
That’s it? you think that’s a great idea? Frat houses are that for a reason.
I am an empty nester, why would we want to live cramped up, living on top of each like storage to be around young people. Stop it
Nobody is asking you to. Why should your tastes in life prevent those who do want this from being able to get it?
OMG NO!
Ok…This is the NIMBY approach w/o facing scrutiny or the legal hassles of keeping “the unwanteds” out of their neighborhoods. Avoid the issue by saying “See? You got a roof and 4 walls!”
There’s a good reason why this style of living is not all over the place. It’s not a thing because it is “the projects 2.0”. If people wanted roommates? They’d HAVE roommates!
Talk about “parking”??? Now? All the sudden parking is no issue. As long as they stay over there where they belong. I don’t care about parking. Let THEM deal with it.
These situations are the worst. The worst. It’s where you go to be stressed out over 100 little things everywhere. It’s not a home. It’s a communal bathroom. Like at the gas station. It’s a transition home for homeless people. Hell, Hotels and Motels are better than these things and what happens in Hotels? Any guesses? These are NOT long term housing. Period. Period. It’s a place to flop until you get something better or have no place to go.
This is about saving money from business owners taxes. We’ll get to 10k houses in no time if we stack shipping containers. Right?
People pooh pooh “Tiny houses”. They are the same thing. But packing them into tight places to maximise profit is what they are looking for. They want money. Period. They do not care about the people who live there. They want to develop the land and make it as profitable as possible at the expense of everyone else besides the ones who are obligated to pay their fair share in taxes. Make sure the money for political campaigns flow in. Hollingsworth $3 an hour shiv in the liver is the other half.
Cram people into the space to create a ready made workforce that will compete and kill wages with a modified “right to work” law, because hey! Seattle’s “affordable”. They all have a closet to themselves now! Quit crying and get back to work! We pay you enough and there’s another right behind you to take your job!
Them days are over. The Boomers did that. They smashed the unions for their own benefit. They still are anti union. Corporations are people. Right?
We need to watch these people on the council very closely. This is clearly a playbook. This has been in the oven already. Just waiting. So now it’s the 5 pronged attack. All designed for one goal. The rich get richer and the poor, needs to serve the rich simply by being alive. You become someone to exploit for personal gain. And it’s your own fault if you fail.
That’s the old ways…We need better than communal housing. You want to put mother in law homes on your property? Communal housing? Then do it. But leave the affordable housing to people who know the issues. It’s nice they want to maximise their profits. But not at everyones expense.
Want to talk about social engineering? 40+ years of flat wages says it all.
I mean, I just want a 2-bedroom that is 1)an actual 2-bedroom, not a one-bed with a cubby with no door and as few as two containing walls, and 2)isn’t $4,000 and/or falling apart.
The housing stock in this city makes me wonder if we’re just not supposed to procreate, have a home office, or “congregate” with a trusted roommate or two instead of a bunch of strangers.
Again a quick search turns up many apartments that meet these criteria… perhaps not as many in the most expensive of the expensive areas like the core of Capitol Hill, but even in Belltown, multiple listings under $3,500 – most in the $2,600-3,200 range…
Also, Seattle has been notorious as a low fertility area for decades now.. the market has simply been reacting to demand… more apartments for singles and childless couples have been built than anything else… families are left to fight over the remaining and ever increasingly expensive houses that offer more space.
Thanks, but I’ve done the footwork to look at a number of apartments under $3,500, in various neighborhoods in the city. I’ve walked through multiple 2-bedrooms aren’t true 2-bedrooms, or have two bedrooms but magically no longer have a living room, can’t fit full beds, etc., or are far enough from transit that you’d need to consider getting a car if you don’t have one, thus making the price trade-off moot, etc. Many cities build like they expect people to raise families or live with roommates in apartments. Seattle could be doing more meaningful work in this regard; this is not that.
Whatever… I was looking at places yesterday that had 2 full bedrooms, and still had their living room, sometimes even two bathrooms and a dining room even, in Belltown for far less than $4000…. The only place I found that was passing off a living room as a second bedroom was on Capitol Hill….
It’s entirely possible that you’re looking for different things in an apartment than I am, and that’s a perfectly reasonable thing to do; I don’t know your particular needs as you don’t know mine. Regardless, $3,500-$4,000 is still unreachable for many people who work full time and would have a reasonable need for a 2-bedroom, which, given the limited housing supply, is a reasonable point to make, even though you seem to take it very personally and literally.
“given the limited housing supply, is a reasonable point to make”
Noooooo0…It’s not…
Why?
Because it’s all 100% bullshit. I LIVE in affordable apartments and you can make one phone call and get a 2 bedroom for 1800 bucks or less if you are below the poverty line.
We take it personally because you are simple lying. 100% BS.
I think you just stop digging now.
I don’t have any housing needs actually… I’m good. I just don’t care for whinging… what you specified is most certainly available unless you find a reason to pick apart and reject each of the roughly 100 or so available 2 bedrooms easily found in a single search for under $3,500/month. Nobody’s going to say Seattle isn’t expensive, but there comes a point in everyone’s lives where they need to compromise a tiny bit. Don’t expect any empathy because you can’t find your exact dream apartment, exactly where you want it, for a song…
Community Roots Housing and other affordable apartments are readily available now.
They are full of crap or lazy
Community Roots Housing
Bellwether housing
Etc. etc. etc.
Give us all a break will ya?
“Thanks, but I’ve done the footwork”
That’s either a lie or simply ignorant? Lazy?
The time you spent here making excuses you’d already have a place to go.
These people are simply making excuses. Exaggerated everything so more people think they are full of it too? It’s senseless worry over what? It’s all just sock puppets who have an agenda.