Seattle's public social housing agency is finally getting ready to build something of its own, and it's starting small, on a lot with a lot of history.
The board of the Seattle Social Housing Developer unanimously approved the agency's first new construction project on the night of Thursday, Oct. 15, and the agency announced it the next day. The plan calls for about 20 homes in the Central District, with at least half of them two or three bedrooms. The agency expects the building to be finished by the end of 2028.
A lot with a story
The land belonged to the late Frank Chopp, the longtime speaker of the Washington State House of Representatives, who died in 2025. KUOW reported that Chopp bought the parcel at a land auction in 1978 and built the two houses that stand on it. The agency says Chopp named one of them "the Bird" because he thought it looked like a bird taking off.
Chopp and his wife, Nancy Long, had once planned to build a small apartment building there and live in it. The agency says she decided to sell the land to the social housing developer because she knew her husband saw social housing as one way to tackle Seattle's affordability crisis.
KUOW reported the agency is buying the 7,800-square-foot lot, next to the Central District public library branch, for $1 million.
Budget, design and who gets in
The agency's current budget is about $15 million for total development costs, including land, design, construction and soft costs. It says it expects a more accurate budget in the next few months.
The building will be designed to Passive House standards, a demanding energy-efficiency standard. The agency also plans to explore Kelsey Essential certification, which it describes as one of the highest accessibility standards.
The housing will be mixed income, with a lottery open to households from very low incomes to middle incomes. KUOW reported that about a tenth of the units will go to people making under 30% of Seattle's median income, a little less than a third will be market rate, and the rest will fall in between, with higher rents helping cover lower ones. The agency will follow the city's Community Preference policy, which lets people with current and historical roots in the Central District return to the neighborhood.
"We want social housing to be one of the ways that those pushed out of neighborhoods like this can return," interim CEO Tiffani McCoy said at the announcement.
The agency was created in 2023, and voters approved its funding last year through a tax on Seattle businesses that pay an employee more than $1 million a year. KUOW reported that the tax raised more than $100 million last year. The agency already owns Elara at the Market, a 150-unit building near Pike Place Market. It expects to announce a second acquisition before the end of the year, start construction on two land sites next year, and own more than 1,000 homes by the end of 2027. The agency says that pipeline depends on a successful low-interest bond issuance.
Why it matters for Contractors
On its own, a 20-unit building is a modest job. But it's the first new construction project from an agency that says it wants to own more than 1,000 homes by the end of 2027, and it comes at a slow time for Seattle housing. KUOW reported that developers have applied to build only a little over 1,000 housing units in the city so far this year, compared with more than 20,500 applications in 2020.
The design targets matter, too. Passive House requires a very tight, well-insulated building envelope, careful air sealing and high-performance windows and ventilation. Kelsey Essential certification focuses on accessibility. Contractors and subs with experience in high-performance or accessible construction will have an edge as the agency starts choosing its team.
The budget is still preliminary, and no builder has been named. Contractors who want a shot at this job, or at the agency's two land sites planned for next year, should follow the agency's announcements and board meetings. If the bond issuance goes through and the pipeline grows, this public developer could become a steady source of work for local firms.