HousingWireHousingWire
The House of Representatives in the state of Washington last week approved a bill that seeks to expedite the process of converting commercial buildings into residential complexes. The measure passed overwhelmingly in a vote of 95-2.
HB 1757 is sponsored by Rep. Amy Walen (D) and would modify the regulatory processes for these conversion projects. This includes preventing cities from imposing a requirement for a change-of-use permit to accomplish a conversion.
“In previous sessions, the legislature has enacted rules to allow the conversion of existing commercial properties for housing,” Walen’s office said in an announcement. “Those rules only applied to conversions in commercial and mixed-use zones. House Bill 1757 extends these allowances to commercial buildings in primarily residential zones.”
Walen said these extensions will be critical to addressing the state’s housing shortage.
“Extending these allowances to residential areas means we will build more walkable, livable neighborhoods,” she said. “I am proud to have worked on generating more housing supply over the last few years and will continue to look for innovative ideas to address our housing supply challenges.”
Ahead of the vote, according to reporting by The Olympian, Walen characterized the state as being in a “housing emergency.” The report described a scenario with “long permit-processing times and prohibitive financing costs, plus landfills getting stuffed with demolished buildings’ old construction materials.”
Washington’s population continues to outpace the number of available homes, and prices in the state remain out of reach for many residents who want to enter the housing market, according to data from the state’s Office of Financial Management.
City leaders in the state’s large metro areas, including Seattle, have also floated the adoption of these conversions on a wider scale as an answer to their own housing woes. But Seattle leaders seemed far apart on potential solutions at a hearing in January.
HousingWire reached out to a state House Democratic caucus representative for comment on the proposal but did not receive an immediate reply. A representative for Gov. Bob Ferguson indicated for HousingWire that he is supportive of the bill.
“Gov. Ferguson is supportive of legislative efforts to streamline permitting requirements to make it easier and less expensive to build housing of all kinds,” said Brionna Aho, the governor’s communications director. “He commends Rep. Walen for her work on this legislation.”
After having been introduced into the state Senate last week, a hearing on the measure will take place on Friday, March 14.
