Lifting UW lease lid to spur job growth, housing?

SEATTLE – The Seattle City Council this week announced a plan to lift the University of Washington lease lid in the core University District until July 2010.

“This is a solution that addresses concerns about housing while allowing the university the ability to expand and bring new jobs to the community,” said Jan Drago, chair of the council’s finance committee.

The proposal incorporates recommendations from a University District Market Analysis commissioned by the Seattle Office of Economic Development and researched by the firm Gardner Johnson. The Gardner report says the key factor to revitalizing business in the University District is development of new housing and establishment of a permanent residential base that would serve as customers to local businesses at night as well as during the day.

“The market analysis pointed the way toward a plan that would support the concept of community in the U District while providing the economic push to stimulate housing and business revitalization,” said Judy Nicastro, chair of the council’s land use committee, who cosponsored the proposal.

The plan calls for the City to consider targeted housing strategies to increase the development of housing in the core University District Northwest Urban Center Village (UDNUV), designated in the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The UW will be allowed to lease an unlimited amount of space in the UDNUCV.

The UDNUV is a larger than the Permitted Leasing Zone, where the UW is now allowed to lease a limited amount of office space.

The City housing strategies could include modified parking requirements for residential developments, additional height bonuses for mixed-use projects with a substantial residential component and a review of local zoning requirements to encourage further housing growth.

The UW lease lid was first imposed in 1985 to ease concerns about the university’s expansion into the neighboring community. The first lease lid allowed for 241,950 square feet of off-campus leasing. In 1991, the lid was increased to 400,000 square feet and, in 1998, to the current level of 550,000 square feet.

City Council release, May 27

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