Crime in Seattle may have just derailed a huge housing project

Kevin Corbett, CEO of Plus Investment (USA), waited more than eight years for a building permit for a 46-story residential tower near Pike Place Market, but because of Seattle's crime crisis, he has put construction on hold indefinitely.

“Unfortunately, given the ongoing safety concerns in the neighborhood, I don't see us going vertical anytime soon,” Corbett told the Puget Sound Business Journal. “You still see drug markets open day and night on Second and Third Avenue. I know the city needs more resources, but I don't see much commercial development downtown unless there is more of a crackdown on these illegal activities.”

The Pike Towers project was to consist of two glass towers, one at 46 stories and the other at 16. A rendering of the project, according to Real Deal, suggests retail on the ground floor.

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Why did the developer pause a major construction project in downtown Seattle?

It's not surprising that a developer would pause a project downtown. Although tourism is rebounding thanks to cruise season, the area can still feel like a ghost town, with many workers still far away. Perhaps “ghost town” is less apt than zombie desert, where fentanyl addicts languish near the most heavily used subway and light rail stops downtown, exacerbating the area's crime crisis.

Homeless addicts buy and use their drug of choice, usually fentanyl but sometimes meth, openly throughout the city. Some stand upright, swaying back and forth, caught up in their high. Others have bodies twisted into shapes and positions you wouldn't have thought possible. Others are so blissfully high that they don't even notice the oozing, festering sores on their arms or legs.

There is garbage everywhere. The smell of urine on 3rd Street between Pike and Pine is so pungent you can taste it in your throat. It's the first thing tourists experience when they walk to Pike Place Market or take the light rail from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The locals don't even want to go near this area. Why would they want to live there?

Is there a plan to combat crime in Seattle?

The housing project has already had to pivot due to the deteriorating conditions in the city center. Originally planned as condominiums, the project was converted to rental apartments. But now the project is on hold, which means that the necessary housing units are being taken off the market due to mismanagement by the mayor's office.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has prioritized building more housing downtown. However, rather than addressing the concerns of developers like Corbett, Harrell seems more interested in converting offices — which are sitting vacant because of the crime crisis — into housing. They are practically “begging” developers to take on these office-to-housing conversion projects by offering incentives that they should be offering in the first place. all Developer. It's a foolish plan that will only further delay the downtown's resurgence.

About a third of downtown offices are either vacant or sublet. By replacing office space with housing, you ensure that downtown will no longer be able to attract businesses. This effectively pushes businesses to other parts of Seattle where they don't have the same access to subway or light rail for commuters. Worse, it could encourage businesses to stay in outlying areas.

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Where is the media coverage?

Normally, the news that such a high-profile project is being put on hold would be covered in the media. However, in this case, that was not the case. The news was limited to business and real estate media.

Local media such as the Seattle Times have made great efforts not The problems in downtown Seattle lie in crime.

Reports in the Seattle Times in June painted a bleak picture of downtown Seattle's commercial and residential real estate market. One article pointed to astonishingly low prices for previously expensive commercial buildings, including the nearly vacant Pacific Place Mall and the Downtown Hilton. A second article noted that prices for downtown homes tend to be lower than costs citywide.

Other reports say that downtown real estate prices have plummeted and are now below the city average.

However, these reports blamed COVID-19 without even mentioning Seattle's crime crisis.

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Alarm about crime in Seattle

It is not just the projects that have been quietly put on hold that are causing concern among local residents. High-ranking business leaders are also raising the alarm about the situation in the city center.

Jeffery Judson-Baker, investment manager at Lake Union Partners, recently wrote an open letter about conditions in the inner city, blaming the crisis on “misplaced compassion” that leads to “addicts rotting in doorways and the mentally ill suffering on the streets.”

“I've been having these conversations for a long time, sort of behind closed doors,” Judson-Baker explained on KTTH's “The Jason Rantz Show.” “Corporate leaders often do things behind the scenes and lobby local groups. Those are all things we certainly do, and at some point I and my colleagues just got fed up.”

“This person is running through the streets completely naked and screaming at six in the morning.”

Judson-Baker said the prompt for his letter was a recent walk from his home in Pioneer Square to a business meeting.

“I wake up early in the morning and am woken up by someone having a manic episode right outside my door, screaming for no reason,” he explained.

An hour later it happened again.

“This person is running around the street completely naked screaming at six in the morning,” he said.

He said his walk to a light rail stop was a journey through human misery.

“Every person I see is either slumped over, looking for drugs, having a nervous breakdown, asking for money to get away, who knows,” he recalls. “And finally I get to the Third and Cherry light rail stop, and there's human excrement outside, syringes, people sleeping right in front of the escalator, while you watch all these commuters coming into the center of the CBD, which is actively dying out. You see office occupancy is going way down.”

He called the area a “war zone.” And he's speaking out because he loves his city and doesn't want to see it continue to deteriorate. Now he's waiting for other local politicians and the mayor's office to act.

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