Seattle to get new 'Makers' District' with affordable housing, industrial workspaces near T-Mobile Park

Seattle will get a new “Makers' District” in the SODO neighborhood, which will include nearly 1,000 apartment units over subsidized workspaces, along with hotels and restaurants.

The City Council adopted Council President Sara Nelson’s plan late Tuesday. But it didn’t happen without some major drama.

"This is about Seattle's worsening housing affordability problem," said Council President Sara Nelson. She said the project would allow working class people — and their small businesses — to stay, rather than having to move out of Seattle.

"And these, by the way, are the businesses that are poised to be inspirations and incubators, and ladders of opportunity for minority and vulnerable entrepreneurs in our city," she added.

The Makers' District comprises only a few blocks of industrial land owned by investor Chris Hansen. But its position along a major truck route linking the Port of Seattle and Interstate 90 makes the placement of apartment buildings there controversial.

That tension between housing and trucking led to deep divisions between among the people at Tuesday's hearing.

On the one hand, port-aligned unions spoke against the rule change, which would eliminate a 200-foot buffer that currently separates housing from major truck corridors. That buffer was part of a carefully negotiated update to industrial zoning rules completed in 2023.

“When you add residential neighborhoods, of course that’s gonna slow down trucks’ ability to get from point A to point B — in addition to being just straight up dangerous,” said Jamie Fleming, Director of Communications and Research for the Teamsters Local 174 union. She was among many labor representatives who spoke at Tuesday's council meeting.

One International Longshore and Warehouse Union member graphically described what happens when a 80,000 pound truck hits a pedestrian.

"We've had instances where people were run over — you can't just haul them away in a stretcher. It happens differently than that," he said.

But on the construction side, many union members spoke in favor of the idea. They made up the majority of the commenters at Tuesday's hearing.

Nicole Grant is an electrician and an executive with MLK Labor. She said the project is more than just another development.

“We worked really hard to get the finest labor standards anywhere to build maker housing in the stadium district. And once we got those labor standards, this project became our own.”

Many workers said they not only expected to build the project — they hoped to live there, too.

Some small business owners said they'd had trouble finding spaces like commercial kitchens and artists spaces, and hoped the new Makers' District would provide those.

T

he city council was bitterly divided on the issue, with members questioning the rush to pass the bill and filing nine last-minute amendments.

Councilmember Dan Strauss twice tried and failed to delay the council's vote.

“I was taught that when someone is trying to rush something, there is something that could be hidden,” he said.

Nelson said there was plenty of time to review the materials.

"I have to say that for such a progressive piece of legislation, there is an uncommon amount of opposition, at least for Seattle here," she said. "There are a lot of strong emotions on each side, and at least from my perspective, a lot of fear that does not stand up to the facts."

One person who could benefit from the plan is Chris Hansen, an investor who owns lots of property in the Stadium District and who once tried to build a basketball stadium there.

Under existing zoning rules, he could have built offices and hotels there, but not apartments.

The flexibility to include residences on his properties increases those properties' value, especially at a time when office vacancies are at a historic high.

The Port of Seattle objected to the idea of a Makers' District, in part because of the elimination of the 200-foot buffer between housing and truck traffic.

During his public comment, just as he was being cut off for going over his minute, Port Commission President Fred Felleman suggested the city had not considered the litigation costs they would face, effectively warning them that someone is likely to sue.

But beyond the traffic objections, the Port had also been eyeing Hansen's property for another purpose — to build a green manufacturing hub there, instead, which it would have called the "Teal New Deal."

In a statement from media relations manager Perry Cooper, the Port of Seattle complained that Chris Hansen wasn't playing nice.

"The Port needs to know if Mr. Hansen is interested in having such a discussion with us. Mr. Hansen needs to return calls we have made to have an initial conversation."

The statement said Port officials are working on a larger analysis of the Teal New Deal with the city of Seattle's Office of Economic Development. They expect that real estate analysis to be completed this fall, and urged the council to wait on the rezone.