All Policy is Local Podcast - The Case for Building More Microhousing

 

Councilmember Andrew Lewis invited me in to his office a few weeks ago to talk about microhousing: Who needs it, how we killed it off, why we should bring it back, and what needs to change to make that happen. The fact that this episode got made and aired is a pretty good indicator that policymakers are finally coming around to doing something about Seattle's anti-microhousing policies. A year ago, Mayor Bruce Harrell dropped in an PSBJ interview that he wanted to put microhousing "back on the table" to see if they "can once again become an effective tool to achieve density".  This year looks to be the time when those good intentions may ripen into a legislative agenda. Similar rumblings are coming from the council side as well. I'm hoping this conversation with Councilmember Lewis is a starter's whistle of sorts. Fingers crossed.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-neiman-the-case-for-building-more-microhousing/id1650317040?i=1000596317318

701 S Jackson Street wins Approval from ISRD Board

 

At last night's presentation to the International District Special Review District Board, we got formal approval for a new development at 701 S Jackson Street. The project is an eight-story building with 202 apartments and about 7000 sf of commercial space. The apartments are a mix of one-bedroom apartments and congregate housing units (the smallest and most affordable form of micro-housing). In addition to providing units that are generally smaller and more affordable than what you see in typical market rate development, the project will participate in the city’s MFTE program, guaranteeing that 25% of the units are reserved for income qualified applicants at prices set by the Office of Housing.

The building is clad in brick masonry, following in the tradition of the old residential hotels in the Chinatown International District  The building has highly repetitive window arrangements with window openings that are set deep into the façade that create strong shadows that reveal the depth of the masonry.

The building has a step in the massing that is partly driven by fire code height restrictions, but also helps to scale the building down at the corner. A reveal at that step that helps incorporate the step into the whole building design and helps to break down the scale of the overall façade.

The masonry skin employs subtle horizontal banding to break the building composition into a base middle and a top. The base corresponds to the typical storefront heights in the CID of 1 ½ - 2 stories tall. The height of the middle section corresponds to the 5-6 story height of the tallest residential hotels in the historic fabric around us.

A Flemish bond pattern and decorative coursing is introduced into the base of the building to help distinguish the base from the sections above. The windows are set back into the wall to provide a sense of depth to the masonry. The vent openings in the façade needed to meet today’s code requirements for ventilation have been grouped inside the masonry openings along with the window to help keep the masonry looking simple and uncluttered by mechanical penetrations.

The masonry colors were derived from a careful study of the context building to find modern brick that were most compatible w/ the historic fabric. We used a blend of two similar sand colored bricks to achieve the subtle variation that we found in the the surrounding masonry. We also introduced a darker accent brick that allowed us to create decorative patterns and coursing that reflect some of the craft traditions commonly found in historical masonry buildings, while giving them a bit of a modern twist.

Construction is scheduled to begin in Spring 2023, beginning with a cleanup & remediation phase. The larger construction effort will being in the fall 2023. Doors should open in Spring/Summer 2025

The Roost Lofts Receives AIA Seattle’s Honor Awards - Award of Merit

 

For the second time in less than a week, Neiman Taber has been recognized with a design award. We are proud to announce that The Roost Lofts just received the Award of Merit at the 2022 AIA Seattle Honor Awards for Washington Architecture.

The entirety of the awards ceremony can be watched at this link. (The discussion of The Roost starts at 48:13.) Of the project, the jury said:

“The Roost is a model for creating affordable housing in an urban core with no public subsidies. This project is rethinking our living environment. It’s providing affordable units while introducing an innovative housing typology…you have gone above and beyond to stay with a project, persist with a project…this a project that we have a team who has deeply invested in prototyping a way forward for housing and we just found it to be exemplary.”

The Roost is an innovative microhousing development, providing affordable market-rate housing aimed at strengthening Seattle’s arts community. The project combines inexpensive market-rate units, 40% AMI affordable units, and a below market-rate commercial space leased to an arts nonprofit. The housing units are supplemented with shared community kitchens, living, dining, and meeting spaces that improve the livability of the small apartments and provide an opportunity for residents to meet, interact and build community.

Wearing three hats — developer, designer, and operator, we successfully prototyped an innovative housing model that is profitable, affordable, sustainable, community-oriented, and replicable. The project was built for $150K per unit, total project cost including land. The 33 individual units are designed to function as live-work studios. To separate the bed space from the work area, we made each of the units double-height and lifted the sleeping area into a small loft. The vertical segregation of uses creates units that live like one-bedroom apartments, all in about 220 sf of space.

We are so pleased that the AIA Honor Awards jury recognized all the hard work that went into this project and how it addresses a critical issue in our community. For more information, please see:

2022 AIA Seattle Honor Awards Gallery

2022 AIA Seattle Honor Awards Roost Information Page

Neiman Taber Website: The Roost

The Roost Built Green 5-Star Certification

The Roost Neiman Taber Blog Summary

Karsti Co-Living Receives IIDA Award - Distinction Accolade for Relevancy

We are proud to announce that Kärsti Apartments just received The International Interior Design Association Northern Pacific Chapter's 19th Annual INawards  INmulti-family - Distinction Accolade for Relevancy. The jury spoke very highly of the project and how it addresses a critical need – housing affordability and community. We are grateful for the honor and are happy that the IIDA INawards jury chose to honor our solution to this important issue.

Individuals in cities across the country are struggling with the same issues – urban isolation, limited housing stock, and a lack of affordability. Co-living allows people to live in places that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. This project brings more diversity to a neighborhood that historically has been inaccessible to many. Residents report the stability and savings they experience allow them the flexibility to pursue education, projects, and career options that formerly were out of reach. These projects benefit not only the residents, but also the larger neighborhood, and the city itself.

Kärsti reimagines affordable micro-housing with a focus on fostering interconnectedness among residents. It provides small private apartment homes paired with generous common amenity spaces. This configuration, generally known as co-living, helps renters with two challenges of urban living – finding affordable rent and building friendships, relationships, and community.

Renters in Seattle are searching for housing that both combats urban isolation and doesn’t break the bank. In terms of affordability, people in the lowest income brackets are often the focus of publicly funded affordable developments. However, another demographic exists, sandwiched between those who qualify for subsidized housing and those who can afford typical market rate. In Seattle, about 25% of renters fall into this income category. This project is designed specifically for this underserved demographic, focusing as much on quantitative measures like affordability as on qualitative values like community, belonging, dignity, and sustainability.

Homes in this building range from approximately 180 to 300 square-feet. 25% of these units are reserved for individuals earning 40% Area Median Income (AMI) or roughly minimum wage (around $34,000 per year), and the other 75% are affordable for those earning 50% AMI (around $40,000 a year). The individual units are modest – consisting of a small bed space, a kitchenette, and a private bathroom – but the communal amenities are ample and easily accessed. Each floor has a shared lounge, dining room, and kitchen well-stocked with everything from cookware, to espresso makers, to insta-pots. Additionally, the building has an exterior deck, exercise room, and game lounge that encourage entertaining – facilitating social cohesion that stretches into the larger community. Circulation routes are designed through the building to serendipitously bring people into contact with one another and enhance connectivity.

The interior is designed to give residents a space that feels dignified. The decor, inspired by 80’s punk rock, incorporates high contrast neutrals interspersed with intense pops of color. Amenity areas in the building hold surprises, including a large-scale mural and a Ms. Pac-Man machine. The goal is for residents to feel excited about their home, want to gather with their neighbors, and feel proud to invite over guests.

The community focus is balanced with individual studio apartments that provide for the private aspects of domestic life. Each unit has a contemporary design aesthetic and high-end materials, including quartz countertops, custom cabinetry, stainless appliances, and hardwood-style flooring. Top floor homes include sleeping lofts with mountain views.

The collective culture promoted by this dwelling is further facilitated by the management company, which specializes in collective living arrangements. As a “co-living operator,” they work to identify community members’ interests, and organize and fund shared meals and events. As resident makeup changes over time, they maintain a working knowledge of their distinct community. Customized engagement events even extend into fully-fledged initiatives, such as the Community Catalyst program, where four residents were given several months of free rent in exchange for sharing their talents and helping establish the tone of the budding resident community. They organize weekly dinners, Music Mondays, group dance nights, and other events. Residents often express how special it is to have a home that feels inclusive, collaborative, and intentional.

People are drawn to co-living housing from a variety of backgrounds, and for a number of reasons. Although this type of housing is commonly perceived as the domain of young professionals, this type of housing appeals to a broader range of individuals, with the average age of residents falling in their mid-30s and largely skewing toward women and BIPOC individuals. Residents are people moving in from more distant neighborhoods or exurbs, looking for opportunities to live closer to the city core. Co-living creates a type of housing that provides a stable home base for individuals to change, grow, and pursue opportunities within the city.

In paying attention to these individuals’ needs and pushing for change in their city, this project demonstrates a model for housing that provides a glimpse of a more collective, sustainable, and equitable future. With its intentionally-designed stylish interior, the building offers a sense of home for each resident at an accessible price point.

Credits:

Development Team: Hamilton Urban Partners & Neiman Taber Architects

Architect: Neiman Taber Architects

Builder: Pacific Continental Construction

Structural: Malsam Tsang Structural Engineering

Civil: Sitewise Design Pllc

Landscape: Pacific Landscape Architecture

Geotech: Geotech Consultants Inc 

Energy Modeling: Solarc Energy Group

Survey: Chadwick + Winters

Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment: Open Door and Neiman Taber Architects

Freya Apartments gets 15 minutes of fame

One of our Freya residents is a accessibility advocate at Starbucks & was featured in a Vanity Fair piece that was filmed at Freya. Scroll down to the youtube video at the end of the article). Its a great slice-of-life story that also gives you get a peek at the spaces & apartments within Freya.

https://www.vanityfair.com/sponsored/story/starbucks-art-on-a-mission?fbclid=IwAR3lmjegmS-Ng44AQcRhTQAIQvChwULzSJnZ7FQFpGJsisYZ-fG2EQCazhs

Project Spotlight on Co-Living in the Registry

We've a had a string of stories come out the this year, providing a variety of perspectives on our work to design and develop affordable and elevated market-rate housing. The coverage continues this week with this feature over at The Registry. The article talks a bit about the design of the two projects, our general approach and firm mission, and also touches on the case for re-legalizing this type of housing, which has been actively suppressed by city policy since 2014. If you hit a paywall, you can read a .pdf version of the article at:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/157kjHPxmWbDRy1Xy8zpSEQbFnbkwNYb_/view?usp=sharing

If you've missed the recent coverage also see:

https://www.kuow.org/stories/in-ballard-a-beehive-style-apartment-offers-refuge-for

http://neimanarchitects.blogspot.com/2022/02/neiman-taber-co-living-projects-in-djc.html

https://www.theurbanist.org/2022/03/09/harrell-micro-housing/

KUOW feature story about Karsti

KUOW has a story out today about Karsti, our newest co-living project in Ballard. I'm really pleased with the time and care that the reporter (Joshua McNichols) took to understand the project, the folks that we are serving, the benefits and challenges of community living, and the things we've done differently to try to make this kind of project really work for people. Here's hoping that the project finds some eyes and ears down at the city!

https://www.kuow.org/stories/in-ballard-a-beehive-style-apartment-offers-refuge-for

Is Microhousing back on the table in Seattle?

For many years now I've been writing about Seattle Microhousing. I began modestly (and unsuccessfully) by trying to influence the 2014 legislation that ended up largely killing off congregate housing. Later efforts focused on documenting the harm done the legislation and by the administrative decisions that came in its wake. More recently I wrote on the strange disconnect between our need for simple low-cost housing to address homelessness and the lack of any urgency on the part of the city or non-profits to use microhousing as part of the toolkit. And last year I asked the question "When is Seattle Going to Fix Microhousing", providing a look back at years of data that confirm the trends that were seen immediately following the 2014 legislation. To be honest, I thought of the question posed by that last article to be largely rhetorical.  However...

The big news last week was that Mayor Bruce Harrell is interested in putting microhousing back on the table. The announcement came as part of an interview with the Puget Sound Business Journal on March 4th. Harrell was non-specific as to what he had in mind, and its a little early in the process to get too excited, but nevertheless this is really big news. This is the first time since 2014 that a powerful Seattle politician has signaled that they both care about the issue and (more significantly) that they are willing to spend political capital on fixing microhousing.

For a quick dive, The Urbanist did a good refresher on the issue here:  https://www.theurbanist.org/2022/03/09/harrell-micro-housing/

Looking to study up? Here's a digest:

Wonkery: There are three articles in Sightline that cover the issue fairly comprehensively. How Seattle Killed Micro-Housing is the history of how the council kneecapped micro-housing in the first place.  How Seattle Killed Micro-housing, Again covers how the SDCI and CCAB made administrative rules that have made the situation significantly worse. When Is Seattle Going to Fix Microhousing? is a 2021 update looking at years of data & trends:  https://www.sightline.org/author/davidneiman/

Homelessness: Low-Cost Housing: Here’s the way to do it is an article that discusses the link between the lack of basic housing and the epidemic of homelessness in our cities. The article also contains four concrete recommendations for how policy changes can help micro-housing to be part of our strategy for combatting homelessness.

Inspiration: A ten minute talk I gave about the development of The Roost, including some discussion about the moral case and the political barriers.

Talking points: Top Ten Reasons to re-legalize congregate housing 

• Provides plentiful 40%-60% AMI affordable housing w/ no subsidies.
• Is affordable to minimum wage workers.
• Provides opportunities for people to live in the city core who would otherwise be priced out.
• Provides people individual units w/ greater security & privacy than house/apartment shares.
• Promotes community, wellness, and social capital through shared spaces and experiences.
• Uses ~1/3 of the energy per unit compared to conventional housing.
• Promotes dense, livable, walkable communities and car-free lifestyles.
• Women and BIPOC individuals are disproportionally the people who live in congregate housing. Women for reasons of improved security, safety, and community, and BIPOC individuals because of the wealth gap.
• A city policy that actively suppresses the development of housing options used disproportionality by women and BIPOC individuals is a glaring equity issue.
• A city policy that actively suppresses the development of housing options for poor people is morally indefensible.

Don't take my word for it! Take advantage of the expert advice already sitting on our (virtual) bookshelf. The HALA, AMIHAC, and The Path Forward reports are three commissions convened in the last five years that all support the advice I am offering.

HALA Report: See recommendation MF8 on page 24

AMIHAC Report: See recommendation 3.01 on page 42 and 3.04 on page 45

The Path Forward: See page 9 discussion of rooming houses/shared housing.

Neiman Taber Co-Living Projects in the DJC

 

The DJC did a little blurb on Freya & Karsti today. We developed these projects in partnership with Hamilton Urban Partners. OpenDoor Co-living opened a Seattle office in order to operate them for us. These projects represent a big step forward for us, marrying our experience designing small apartments & shared amenities to OpenDoor's expertise in operating co-living buildings. 

You can read more here

Neiman Taber 2021 Promotions

As Neiman Taber Architects continues to grow and evolve, we are excited to provide pathways for professional advancement and announce a number of promotions. 

NTA has promoted Liz Pisciotta to partner and Anton Dekom to senior associate. Additionally, several design staff have been promoted to associate: Sari Ellis, Kyle Francis, Kyle Jenkins, Sharon Rubin and Patrick Taylor. 

Liz Pisciotta has worked with NTA for 9 years and has led firm efforts in interior design, company culture and project management. She has experience in multifamily residential, hospitality and institutional design. She is currently working on the Littlefield Apartments annex
project and recently designed the interiors and branding of the Freya and Karsti Apartments. Pisciotta is a member of the AIA Seattle Housing Task Force. 

Anton Dekom has experience with a variety of project types including multifamily residential, commercial office, and sustainable infrastructure. He is a former member of AIA Seattle's Public Policy Board and a former co-chair of the Committee on Homelessness. He also co-led the effort to design and build the Mighty House, a prototype transitional shelter for people experiencing homelessness. He is currently project manager on a new mixed-use development in the Chinatown-International District and the Washington Irving Apartments Annex.

Sari Ellis has experience in hospitality design, educational renovations and multifamily developments. At NTA, she specializes in multifamily unit design and is our in-house accessibility expert. She is currently project architect on a new mixed-use development in the Chinatown-International District, as well as the Washington Irving Apartments Annex. 

Kyle Francis has experience in high-end single family housing and commercial work. He is finishing the construction phase on a mixed-use development at 500 Broadway in Capitol Hill, neighboring an adaptive re-use of 510 Broadway, for which he was also the project architect. He is currently project architect on a new transit-oriented development near Cal Anderson Park. 

Kyle Jenkins specializes in design culture at NTA and also organizes professional development education. He serves on the advisory panel for the North Highline Urban Design Standards and volunteers design services for community organizations. Jenkins is currently project manager on a 191-unit mixed-use apartment building near Othello Station. 

Sharon Rubin was co-project lead for a joint partnership between Architects Without Borders and the BLOCK Project, from 2018 to 2021. She also leads website development at NTA. Rubin is currently project architect on a 271-unit mixed-use development near Othello Station.

Patrick Taylor is deeply involved in public policy around issues of land use, transportation, and housing. He is the education and programming director for The Urbanist as well as a member of their governing board. He is also co-chair for both the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board and the AIA Seattle Housing Task Force. Taylor is currently project manager on a 271-unit mixed-use development near Othello Station.

When Are We Going to Fix Microhousing?

Sightline just published a follow-up to the articles I wrote back in 2016-2017 on how Seattle Killed Microhousing. Back then, we were looking at emerging trends based on a couple years of permit applications from the SDCI permit data. In this article, we have the benefit of several more years of data collection from multiple sources that allows us to fill out the picture with more precision.

The article confirms the trend that we pointed to back in 2016, namely that Seattle killed off congregate housing (the smallest and most affordable form of microhousing) and replaced it with larger and more expensive Small Efficiency Dwelling Units (SEDUs). The article also points to some new problems: The code changes that we pointed to in 2017, in combination with further actions taken by policymakers since that time have significantly impacted the housing economy and have driven all forms of microhousing (congregate and SEDU alike) into decline.

Read the whole article here

Freya Apartment Launch - Artist in Residence Program - 5 Months Free Rent

The Freya Apartments, our latest co-living community, will open its doors next month. As part of the launch, we are trying out a new idea: An artist-in-residence program that will provide a dozen artists free rent for five months as they live at The Freya and use their art to capture their experiences and the process of building a community.

Credit for the idea belongs to OpenDoor, a co-living management company based in the Bay area that we recruited to open a Seattle office to manage Freya and its cousin project Karsti (opening in Ballard early 2021). They are a mission-driven property management company focused solely on co-living communities. They have really dug into the nuts and bolts of living together to provide a range of innovative practices for how to operate co-living communities. We are beyond excited to combine their unique skill set with the physical environment we have created at Freya.

To apply for the Artist-in-Residence program visit:  http://join.opendoor.io/lb8bn4

In addition to the Artist-in-Residence program, notable features of the building operations will include:

• The project will feature a shared grocery and meals program to both build community and help residents save money on food costs.
• Community leaders will be recruited to help support day-to-day operations in exchange for a rent stipend.
• Some of the building fixture budget will be left unspent at the project launch to allow for community input as to how these areas can be best outfitted.
• Special interests of the residents will be identified and become part of the branding for the community to create distinctive cohorts within the building.
• Twenty (20) of the units will be reserved for income qualified applicants and rented at 40% AMI (currently $760/mo).