Seattle hits pause on plan to slash development fees
A proposal to temporarily pause the city of Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability program has ground to a halt as key stakeholders and Mayor Katie Wilson pull back from the policy.
In response to rising construction costs and plummeting permit applications for new apartments, a group of around 30 developers called the Seattle Housing Roundtable proposed a temporary break from the city’s MHA fee for new construction.
The “Housing Accelerator” policy, first proposed in early March, would have reduced the MHA fee by 80% for new commercial and housing projects for two years in an effort to spur market-rate housing development.
Negotiations had been underway for months, with support from the Housing Development Consortium, a membership group representing affordable housing developers that depend on funding from the program. Lawmakers including Councilmember Eddie Lin, who chairs the city’s land use committee, had indicated they were open to the idea.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2026/07/06/mandatory-housing-affordability-program-seattle.html