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-I apologize for being a few minutes late.
It's -- needless to say it's been a hectic morning.
And I actually want to address the power outage
we're facing now before I get into this exciting legislation
we're here to present and talk about a little bit.
So first of all,
we all know that our region was faced
with an incredible windstorm and horrific weather.
Region wide, over 600,000,
640,000 people are without power.
I think Puget Sound Energy reported around 400,000
or so without power in the King County area.
Here in Seattle, we are continuing to monitor
and -- the impacts of the windstorm.
And our Office of Emergency Management
is coordinating amongst our city departments
to ensure a swift and appropriate response.
We think right now, according to SDOT reports,
that around 20 to 30 trees are down,
and they're working very diligently to address any debris
that is impacting the roadways and transportation.
Last night, the peak of people, the number,
was around 114,000 without power.
And again, I need to thank the men and women
at City Light and the leadership at City Light
for responding very feverishly on this.
And right now we think that we have around 37,750 without power
and we recognize it.
Again, Puget Sound Energy customers are impacted
by our lines being down
and we want to acknowledge the regional response
we're trying to effectuate.
This is the largest number of customers
without power since 2006. And many of you
that were around then will remember the Hanukkah Eve storm,
that was around 114,000 people.
So restoring power to the remaining customers
will depend on the severity of the effects
that we're managing right now.
And again, City Light's working diligently to repair the --
and access the electrical system.
Some repairs are going to take longer,
depending on whether we can easily access the damage
and get to the areas,
and remove the debris, and do what we're doing.
We have additional crews working on this.
And again, our staff and crews
are working around the clock
to ensure all customers have power restored.
We have actually some great data to suggest our reliability,
our connectivity,
our ability to repair damage when these things occur.
But quite candidly, no one wants to talk about that
when their power is down.
Personally, my power is down as well.
It's been down all night.
It continues to be down this morning.
So I understand the inconvenience
that it affects all families and people,
particularly with respect to medical devices
and other types of needs that they have.
So having said that,
I'll move on to what we're here to talk about this morning
and I want to start with some thanks.
Senator Jesse Salomon is here.
Representative Mia Gregerson couldn't be here,
but we want to thank her as well for their leadership
at the state level,
and partnership at the state level on housing affordability.
Addressing this crisis with these kinds of, sort of,
innovative and thoughtful ways
to go about how we can address the housing affordability,
home affordability crisis. On our staff,
I want to thank our Chief Operating Officer,
Marco Lowe, Kaya Caldwell,
and Karin Eastby for their efforts at the city
to release barriers to building housing.
I want to center us with a quote that I really enjoy.
It's a quote by Matthew Desmond.
Many of you have read a lot of his works.
He's a sociologist and author of
"Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City."
I think he, sort of, grounds us to what we're trying to do.
"The home is the center of life.
It is a refuge from the grind of work,
the pressure of school, and the menace of the streets.
At home, we remove our masks."
And this sort of guides us in this work
that we're trying to do to think about
how we can achieve some form of a home for people
that are really struggling with their rent.
The data that we're able to extract to guide our policies,
according to the Census Bureau,
that nearly 44% of Seattle renters
spend over a third of their income on rent.
Now, that's about 90,000 households
that are rent burdened due to the high cost of living
that we all know exists in Seattle.
So this co-housing
that we're describing today
is one of the most affordable forms of market rate housing
and an important piece of solving
and addressing the housing crisis.
Now, co-living units often rent for less than $1,000,
between $850 to $950.
Now, compare that to the average cost of a studio apartment,
which rents around $1,400.
Or the average rent of a one-bedroom apartment
around $1,800 a month.
So we think this is a feasible way,
a smart way to look at that income --
that person with lower income
to provide them with a comfortable place to live.
Now, implementing this legislation is quite,
in our minds,
just a common sense way
to increase housing supply and diversity
in neighborhoods with great access to jobs,
and transit, and other amenities.
So today, we also want to put this co-housing solution
in the context of other pieces of legislation
we'll be presenting.
So in order to boost production of ADUs,
Accessory Dwelling Units,
which again was sponsored by Representative Gregerson.
And we know, Senator Solomon, whenever it comes to housing,
your fingerprints are all over everything in Olympia.
So we thank you for that.
We'll be transmitting more legislation next year.
Adding our own incentives to build more ADUs
next year as well.
So you'll see that.
And we'll also propose a resolution
to pursue a sales tax exemption on office-to-residential
housing projects following state legislation.
Now, it's important that we recognize
in the housing-to-office conversions,
there was some research from the Pew Trust that suggested very --
sort of grounded the discussion by saying
that this could be an opportunity
where we can bring down costs of office-to-housing conversions
by using this co-housing, sort of, model.
And that's exciting as we implement these two bills.
And so, once again, you know,
I'll close and I'd love to have the senators say
a few words with us.
That this is part of our One Seattle Housing Agenda.
Trying to cut through red tape, be as creative as we can.
Our One Seattle comprehensive plan update will increase
zoning capacity to accommodate over 330 new housing --
new units of housing.
And so it's this kind of creativity
and this kind of commitment to housing, I think,
that will really move the needle on what we're trying
to address for all the people that live here in Seattle,
regardless of income.
So I'm really grateful for the strong partnership
that the city has developed with our state leadership on housing,
and look forward to working with them
in the upcoming legislative session
that is right around the corner.
So with that, I believe, senator,
were you going to say a few words?
We'd love to hear from you. Thank you very much.
-Good morning, everybody.
It's been a very interesting morning.
We lost power,
and I was in charge of going to get coffee this morning
for the combined household that we're now doing.
And I went to Starbucks, and it was closed.
I went to the next one, and we had about an hour wait.
And so I texted my -- the other family I was with,
and they were like, well, we want a latte with oat milk.
I said, I don't think you guys have been outside.
This is like the -- this is the zombie apocalypse right now,
so -- So anyways, I'm here.
So a lot of times when I listen to the news,
you hear this is a crisis, this is a crisis,
everything's a crisis.
And I think that's not quite always the case,
but when it comes to housing, it is a crisis.
And it's hard to overstate just how impactful
and harmful the high cost of housing
and the lack of choice is for our community.
Our high cost of housing drives homelessness,
and we know the number one way
to solve homelessness is to create more housing.
It also drives a despair in young people
who are trying to figure out how they get started in life, right?
And when they feel like they have no options
to afford a house, or move out, it's really challenging.
And then we have a lot of elderly folks
who are living in single family homes.
Maybe they're now single.
Their kids have moved,
or they've lost a spouse, and they want a different model,
but there isn't the choice for that.
And so we then have a crisis of loneliness among elderly people.
And so I was trying to figure out a couple years ago,
you know, how can we address this?
I was meeting with housing advocates,
and we were going over a list of options,
and co-living housing came up. And I said, that's it.
That's the one we're going to do,
because it touches on all these factors,
and it's a solution to all these factors.
So I was really proud to introduce,
along with Mia Gregerson, this bill last year.
And usually bills take a few years at least to pass.
But the legislature really does understand
that we have a housing crisis.
And we were able to move this bill in a bipartisan fashion,
and pass it.
A strong bill, not a watered down bill, in the first year
that we introduced it.
So to me, that's a big deal and a big success.
And so now what's going to happen is,
when we build co-living housing, say at Capitol Hill,
it gives young people the opportunity to be there.
When we build co-living housing in other neighborhoods,
it gives elderly people the opportunity to move in together
and create a shared community.
We're going to keep moving forward on a diversity
of housing solutions this year.
Something that I've been looking at
is European models of apartments, and flats,
and condos,
where you don't have to conglomerate three properties
together just to build one set of units.
We can change the building code to create a single stair entry,
and then we can have a lot more diversity
of housing in that way.
We passed a bill on that last year,
and we're going to follow up with the Building Code Council
to make sure they do the right thing
and make it available pretty widely.
It's going to require some tweaks
with the Building Code Council,
so I'm going to be looking at that.
And with that, I'd just like to say this is a big success,
and thank you for having me.
-Thank you, senator.
[ Applause ]
Thank you, Senator Solomon.
You know, when the Senator and others in Olympia
and working with the city assist with this kind of development,
well, someone has to build it.
And we want to hear from David Nieman,
who is a longstanding developer in this space,
as long as a longtime housing advocate.
So we thank you for your commitment to this space,
and we'd like to hear from you.
Please say a few words, David Nieman, please.
-Hi, everybody. So I'm David Nieman.
I'm a partner with Neiman Taber Architects.
We're an architecture firm.
We do a little bit of development as well,
and we specialize in the design of urban housing
with a focus on livability, affordability,
community, and access to housing for all.
One of the specialties that we work on is a form of housing
that creates plentiful, inexpensive homes.
And it uses a fraction of the energy of conventional housing.
It helps people connect to form community.
And it allows the people to live in neighborhoods
that they would otherwise be priced out of.
And what I'm talking about is congregate housing,
or micro-housing, or co-living. It goes by a lot of names,
but it's where you have a shared room.
Typically your own bathroom,
but you share kitchen and dining and living facilities
with your neighbors.
And in return you get rent
that's 30% or 40% lower than what you might rent
getting a conventional studio apartment.
Before this ordinance passed,
the only place we were able to build our projects
was along automobile corridors like Aurora,
or 15th Avenue Northwest, or Rainier Avenue,
these busy arterials.
With the passage of these bills,
this means that we can do these projects anywhere
we can build an apartment or a townhouse.
And what that means is that for people
who need inexpensive housing,
they get to live in neighborhoods
that have good parks, and services,
and walkable amenities, not just along busy arterials.
Our cities used to build lots of shared housing.
It's a type of housing -- it's modest.
It's affordable, and it's a solution
that worked for a healthy housing market.
There's a powerful case
to be made for this just as an affordable housing strategy.
But this is also about a little bit more than affordability.
As Senator Solomon mentioned,
co-living can help to build community.
When you share your living space with others,
it creates the opportunity for connection and friendship
that can combat isolation and loneliness.
Co-living is more sustainable. It uses less energy per person.
It makes better uses of resources.
And it helps reinforce urban land use patterns
that support the use of mass transit
and walkable neighborhoods.
And finally, there's just the fairness issue.
Which is that co-living gives people access to live
in neighborhoods that they otherwise could just simply
not financially afford.
They would be out of bounds. All by itself,
this legislation cannot fix everything
that's wrong with our housing markets.
The woes that we have are multifaceted and difficult.
But today's a good day,
and this legislative fix is a really great start.
I hope it's not the last time
that we all have a chance to work together
to help make Seattle's housing market a little healthier,
a little bit more affordable, and a little bit more fair.
Thank you all.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you, David.
Unless there are any questions, I'd entertain a few questions.
We're going to sign the legislation with joy
and look forward to actually seeing human beings take
advantage of what we're trying to do
for them to make this city more affordable.
So any questions before I move on?
I'm going to -- yes, please.
-Ten years ago, your vote was one of nine
to kind of pare back the ability to build these in Seattle
over the threat of a mayoral veto at the time, I believe.
Can you talk about how you've kind of seen that turnaround
in the past 10 years of, kind of,
coming back to this type of housing?
-Thanks for the question.
You scared me with your preface.
I thought you were going to say,
you were the only one that voted in the nine.
Eight voted against you on something.
I think that the crisis has widened, and I think that,
you know, there was a --
I think it was like a patented name or something.
We talked about aPodments and I think his name was Jim Potter.
He's no longer with us.
This was a novel concept, and people were thinking,
well, is there going to be enough space for this?
What can it do for the neighborhood?
And we've learned so much since then,
and I think as mayor now,
that people realize this actually works.
That what David talked about building community,
sharing a kitchen.
Still making sure there's some level of privacy.
That this is a smart solution.
The state recognized this as well,
and I don't -- I think times have changed
and perspectives have changed.
In a social setting, I talked about when I was younger,
I lived in the dorms,
but I had a single room.
I could sort of like touch the walls in the room,
and I also lived in a --
I was just describing this in McMahon Hall.
For those who are familiar with the University of Washington.
You just, sort of, share with five
or six guys a communal area. And quite frankly,
those were some of the best times I ever had.
So I thought about the notion of living with people
in similar financial situations, developing community.
And we don't expect people to live in these forever,
but for -- you know,
I could go down the different types of jobs
there are as a person's -- we want to keep them warm.
We want them to have a sense of community.
We want to keep them cool during the very hot weather
in our climate crisis.
So we think this is a smart solution
that is coming into its own.
And I again want to thank the state legislature for,
on a statewide basis, forcing this discussion.
And times have changed, I think, for the good.
Okay, with that --
and again, I'll end with what I started with.
For those that are -- continue to be without power
and that have been inconvenienced,
we're going to work --
when I leave this,
we're going to have some meetings on
how we could restore power as quickly as possible.
And we really, really -- our heart goes out for those
that have been so significantly inconvenienced.
So let's sign some legislation. All right.
-Yes. All right.
-Thank you, David. Thank you very much.
-Thank you so much.
-I have a lot of pens from the governor.
But I don't have any from the mayor, so --
-All right. [ Laughter ]
-I got to tell you, this is a better quality pen, mayor.
-It's better quality.
[ Laughter ]
Thank you very much for being here, everybody.
[ Applause ]