Correction: $14.50 to $32.75 a Square Foot
Yesterday I posted a fundraising appeal. Then I sent this correction. I did it to make the point again that we’re heading for trouble if Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning is implemented. Many, many builders and projects will face huge costs they’ll have to pass on to consumers. This is something we hope will change with a new Mayor.
Greetings,
I sent you an email yesterday updating you on our work and asking for a contribution to help us continue that work this year and next.
I made a mistake.
I said that the fees associated with Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning (MIZ) or Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) as the City has called it, ranged as high as $10 a square foot.
Here’s the fee schedule:
The high end of the fees, depending on location and type of construction, range as high at $14.50 to $32.75 a square foot.
All new construction going forward faces this schedule. And a word of warning about Mayoral candidates, here’s what Jenny Durkan said about MIZ:
Durkan also praised Murray’s housing policy: “Because of Mayor Murray’s leadership on HALA, our building boom will result in more affordable housing and millions of dollars for exploring affordable housing opportunities. As your mayor, I will promise you that we will use that money wisely and that we will be accountable for it” (emphasis mine).
Your projects will be the source of those millions of dollars.
You can read my blog post about two of the leading candidates and their emerging views of MIZ here: Durkan and McGinn: Which One Will Pause MIZ?
These fees and the program itself are likely to change over time, but as I pointed out in my last email, Smart Growth Seattle is the only voice in the city speaking out against the MIZ scheme which will add costs to new development of housing which will increase overall housing prices. What happens when prices go up? When prices go up, so does the outcry from the community and then so will the fees to penalize new development. But we know the answer to high prices is not higher fees, but fewer barriers to create new housing.
We’re at a perilous point in our city and I urge you to contribute to our work and to ask Mayoral candidates that you talk with to please stop MIZ and to include your voice in the discussions going forward of how we address surging demand for housing as we grow our economy.
Roger–
