Seattle Adopts Resolution to Sell Public Land for Affordable Housing Development

In July the Seattle City Council adopted a resolution to allow Seattle City Light, the city’s publicly owned electric power utility, housing. Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, who proposed the resolution, anticipates it will lay the groundwork for one of the city’s largest landowners to help alleviate an affordable housing shortage. As of May, City Light owned 176 properties, including five surplus properties totaling about 121,000 square feet. Read Enterprise’s report, "Public Benefit from Publicly Owned Parcels: Effective Practices in Affordable Housing Development", and its accompanying Seattle case study, "Public Benefit from Publicly Owned Parcels: Advancing Implementation in the Puget Sound Region," for more information about how communities are using public land to spur affordable housing development.