Rob McVicars is a principal and builder at Build Sound, a firm with the mission “to compose inspired, timeless architecture, and green, sustainable projects. He sent this comment in to the Mayor and Seattle City Council about the Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning (MIZ) scheme being proposed by the Mayor and considered by the Seattle City Council. You can send an e-mail to the Mayor and the City Council at our petition page. 

The idea of adding square footage fees to speculative housing projects in Seattle is simply the wrong path to go down.  The added costs from these fees will not be borne by the developers but rather the end buyer, making a small handful of new home buyers responsible for the costs of subsidizing another small handful of lower income residents.  These buyers are borrowing money and paying interest on that money to purchase their new homes and it seems extraordinarily unjust to have them pay for the needs of others with that money.

This is not a tax, this is a specific effort to take from a handful of people that are perceived to have extra means and distribute it to others.  The simple fact that someone can afford a new house in Seattle does not mean they can afford to pay additional subsidies.  If the City Council is looking for an avenue to subsidize housing in Seattle then a referendum needs to be put on the ballot to tax all citizens in the city, including those that are gaining the most from the proposed fees.

There is another economic factor in this equation: if the developers cannot pass on these added fees to the home buyers due to a slow down in the market, the margins in building will no longer make sense and the building will stop.  This is not an over dramatization, this would be reality.  As builders and developers we put our family’s financial well being on the line every time we sign loan documents.  If the reward for our risk is diminished there would be no sense in taking the risk.  We are all very capable people and have other pathways to making a living and if these fees are added I believe  you will find less building and prices soaring.  At that point it doesn’t matter how many fees you raise, families that are unable to afford buying or renting in today’s market will never be able to afford living in the city with the added fees.  You will price even more people out of the city.  The answer to affordable housing is not to add costs housing.

 

Sincerely,

 

Rob McVicars

manager