Seattle – Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced legislation to authorize the City’s Finance Director to provide a $2 million bridge loan to the Seattle Social Housing Developer, a Public Development Authority created by voters to develop, own, and maintain social housing in Seattle, which is publicly owned, publicly financed, mixed-income housing.
The City’s short-term loan will allow the developer to sustain core operations and potentially pursue near term property acquisition opportunities until the first tranche of new revenue generated by an increase to the Payroll Expense Tax, approved by voters through Initiative 137, is received in early 2026.
“Increasing housing supply and diversity have been top priorities for my administration, creating more safe, affordable places for people to call home,” said Mayor Harrell. “While there were different strategies for how to fund the social housing developer, we share a vision for this model to be successful and add more housing options across our city. This loan will provide critical support during this interim period for planning and capacity-building so that the developer is set up for success and can achieve its goal of operating publicly owned, mixed-income housing.”
Passed by voters in 2023, Initiative 135 created the Social Housing Public Development Authority and required the City to provide start-up support for the first 18 months of operation. The City has provided $870,000 in financial assistance to the developer to meet this obligation, in addition to $180,000 from the Washington State Department of Commerce for a total of $1,050,000 in start-up support.
The startup funding helped launch operations at the developer, allowing it to hire staff including its first Chief Executive Officer Roberto Jiménez. In March 2025, the City disbursed the final payment of startup funding to the developer. Without this bridge funding, the developer would face tough financial decisions until the new revenue is received.
“The Seattle Social Housing Developer is focused on addressing the city’s urgent unmet need for affordable housing that many of our citizens have experienced through the establishment of the innovative social housing model,” said CEO Roberto Jiménez. “This housing will be inclusive for all residents, including low-income households and working people like teachers, service workers, firefighters, and more. This loan from the City will allow us to build out the staffing and operational support needed as we look towards property acquisition to make this vision a reality in Seattle.”
The legislation to authorize the loan will be transmitted to the City Council and considered in the Finance, Native Communities & Tribal Governments Committee.
“Voters have been clear – Seattle is ready for social housing. Now, we need to do everything we can to make sure this transformative investment is successful. This agreement will help ensure the Social Housing Developer has the resources they need now to hit the ground running next year, when tax revenue starts coming in. Thank you to the Seattle Social Housing Developer, Mayor Harrell, and all the city staff who have partnered with us for months to make this happen,” said Councilmember Dan Strauss (District 6), Chair of the Finance, Native Communities, and Tribal Governments Committee.
Mayor Harrell also announced that he is appointing Brian Abeel to serve on the Seattle Social Housing Board, as recommended by CEO Jiménez. Abeel is an experienced finance executive with extensive non-profit board experience who will bring these critical skills to the board as they begin overseeing more capital projects.
Through an expansive One Seattle Housing Agenda, Mayor Harrell continues to drive progress to support more affordable housing and greater housing production in the city. In 2024 alone, Seattle added 14,683 new homes, a record high.
In addition to the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan update which will support opportunities for building new housing throughout the entire city, other efforts include boosting the production of accessory dwelling units (ADUs); passing legislation to allow for more micro-housing opportunities; establishing a design review holiday to encourage more residential developments in downtown; passing new incentives for office-to-residential conversions; advancing a new redevelopment plan for affordable housing at Fort Lawton; passing the largest housing levy in City history in 2023; proposing legislation to permanently exempt affordable rental and homeownership projects from design review; and updating the City’s maritime and industrial lands policy to create more housing opportunities.