| Issue:
Seattle City Councilmembers are expected to take a landmark
vote on development in the city as soon as today.
The vote will demonstrate whether our elected officials
make decisions that benefit workers and the larger community
or whether they will give in to developers’ requests
for giveaways and special treatment. Developers are putting
incredible pressure on councilmembers, who need to hear
from you, too.
Background: In 2005, the City of
Seattle sold the historic Alaska Building on Second
avenue to Kauri Investments and Ariel Development. City
Council agreed to sell the building for $500,000 to
$1 million less than they could have received by selling
it for office space because the developers said they
would build much-needed workforce housing in the building
on the edge of Pioneer Square. However, that wasn’t
written into the sales contract. Now, the developers
want to build a hotel instead.
In order to complete their hotel plans, the developers
need a special rezoning to add 50-plus more hotel rooms
to the existing structure in a building addition. They
are pushing Council for special treatment: a so-called
text amendment instead of going through standard procedure,
which would be a contract rezone. The contract rezone
requires more information to and oversight from City Council,
which ultimately decides if this is the best use for the
land.
Until recently, City Councilmembers appeared willing to
do the right thing: deny the text amendment and require
the developer to do what everyone else would have to do
and go through the contract rezone process. Last week,
the developer delivered a letter to City Council threatening
to convert the building into offices should their request
not be approved on June 27 when it is taken up by the
Urban Development and Planning Committee. City Council
has since changed its agenda for this week’s meeting,
and is likely to give in to that threat and take the vote
rather than taking the time to decide what’s fair
for the whole community.
This is a crucial vote with broad implications for future
development in Seattle. Approving the text amendment would
send a clear message to Seattle developers: all it takes
is a threat and City Council will ignore established procedures
and public concerns. That’s a daunting prospect
for our community, especially considering all the future
development on the horizon. Instead, we need responsible
and accountable development, and a process that works
for the community.
The Alaska Building vote is a simple matter with clear
and compelling arguments as to why this legislation should
be rejected. City Council has every right and responsibility
in this case to hold developers to a high standard and
assess, through the contract rezone process, whether this
development is beneficial to our city and community.
Action: Contact City Councilmembers
immediately and tell them to do the right thing: Vote
no on the Alaska Building text amendment. Instead, require
a contract rezone.
Richard Conlin: 206-684-8805, richard.conlin@seattle.gov
Tom Rasmussen: 206-684-8808, tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov
Sally Clark: 206-684-8802, sally.clark@seattle.gov
Nick Licata: 206-684-8803, nick.licata@seattle.gov
David Della: 206-684-8806, david.della@seattle.gov
Richard McIver: 206-684-8800, richard.mciver@seattle.gov
Jean Godden: 206-684-8807, jean.godden@seattle.gov
Peter Steinbrueck: 206-684-8804, peter.steinbrueck@seattle.gov
Jan Drago: 206-684-8801, jan.drago@seattle.gov
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