Seattle, WA

Seattle Architects Unveil Designs for Social Housing Ahead of February Vote – The Urbanist

Published

1 year ago

November 14, 2024

Seattle Architects Unveil Designs for Social Housing Ahead of February Vote – The Urbanist

A social housing case study by Neiman Taber looks at combining family-sized housing with co-living studios and townhomes. The site is a surplus City-owned lot in Northgate. (Justin Oaksford)

In support of their effort to build social housing in Seattle, the nonprofit House Our Neighbors recently released architectural designs for transforming a piece of surplus publicly-owned land in Northgate. In the vision, designed by Neiman Taber Architects, a row of townhomes, a block of family-sized apartments, and a wing of co-living efficiency studios are wrapped around a central courtyard.

While voters approved formation of the Seattle Social Housing Developer in 2023, the city has a special election on deck in February with dueling ballot measures to actually fund that public developer. House Our Neighbors put forward the grassroots Initiative 137 that will be on next February’s ballot as Proposition 1A, while the centrist majority on Seattle City Council proposed the reactionary alternative. Voters will be asked whether they want to fund social housing at all, and if yes, they’ll have to choose between one of the two options.

“For House Our Neighbors, [Neiman Taber Architects] designed a detailed proposal for this parcel as a proof-of-concept to expand our idea of what a brighter, more equitable future could actually look like,” House Our Neighbors wrote. “Their design shows what is possible when we put people over profit; A variety of unit types to suit all kinds of households — from students and working class people to elderly folks, people with mobility needs, and families with and without children and with ample communal space and an interior courtyard where the community can come together to socialize and support each other. All of it affordable. Forever.”

House Our Neighbors Co-Executive Director Tiffani McCoy said more design examples are on the way, with a call out for architects to lay out their own visions for surplus City-owned parcels.

“This is all pro bono from these architecture firms, but we know from I-135 that architects are incredibly excited about social housing, not just because they would be able to actually afford to live in the city in which they work, because architects are often between 80 to 120% of AMI [area median income], but also, you know, they’re just so restricted in their craft,” McCoy told The Urbanist. “Their creativity is really lost a lot because we’re more focused on quantity over quality, which has its benefits. But especially working in typical affordable housing buildings, the focus is as many as you can with the amount of funding.”

The first social housing prototype came from the 2023 Seattle Design Festival with a submission by architects Jacqui Aiello and Anna Brodersen, McCoy said. The pair proposed a nine-unit apartment building with one ground-floor commercial space and a mix of unit sizes including two- and three-bedroom units. The roughly 4,000-square-foot lot being eyed was a surplus City-owned site at 1405 NE 65th Street in Roosevelt.

As laid out in the charter for the Seattle Social Housing Developer, the Roosevelt building would be built to Passive House standards, which go above and beyond the energy efficiency and sustainability requirements of Seattle’s already rigorous code.

In addition to meeting very high environmental standards, social housing proponents are also hoping to design spaces that encourage socializing and social wellbeing. The courtyard space in the Northgate proposal seeks to foster those bonds, as does the rooftop and atrium in the Roosevelt proposal.

“You have these spaces that are designated to getting to know people, relationship-building community space,” McCoy said. “There’s this beautiful opportunity there to grow friends, maybe lifelong friends, that you wouldn’t have in a traditional apartment setting.”

House Our Neighbors is also planning to create a financial model, or “pro forma” in developer lingo, to go along with Neiman Taber’s architectural designs. That model would demonstrate the feasibility of actually turning the plan into a real-life building. Nonetheless, part of the value of the architectural plans is helping visualize for voters the work the Seattle Social Housing Developer would do — if they elect to fund it.

“We are just the ones creating the vision and showing people that this is what it looks like this is what could be in your neighborhood,” McCoy said. “People don’t know what this looks like. So that’s what we’re trying to do.”

A site plan shows the landscaping plan around the three buildings and courtyard. The site is at the intersection of Northgate Way and Interlaken Avenue N and used to be a fire station before being replaced. (Neiman Taber)

Social housing advocates are confident of success in the upcoming February special election. McCoy did note that council added a wrinkle by putting a competing measure on the ballot, which will make it a two-part vote. House Our Neighbors is also expecting a more robust opposition campaign than in 2023, when there was no funding source involved.

“We’ll just have a little bit more education to do since the council put on their alternative, which isn’t social housing,” McCoy said. “It’s just getting people to recognize that you have to vote twice. You have to vote yes twice, not just one. You have to make sure to do [Prop] 1 and 1A.”

Nonetheless, recent results point toward likely success.

“Seattle has already showed us that they’re very, very strongly supportive of social housing. You’ve seen that with the 14-point win in February 2023. We’ve seen that again with over 38,000 people signing Initiative 137, now Proposition 1A,” McCoy said. “And we’ve seen overwhelmingly Washingtonians want to tax the wealthiest in our state in order to provide services that regular people need. I have no problem thinking that we will win resoundingly at the ballot.”

Doug Trumm is publisher of The Urbanist. An Urbanist writer since 2015, he dreams of pedestrianizing streets, blanketing the city in bus lanes, and unleashing a mass timber building spree to end the affordable housing shortage and avert our coming climate catastrophe. He graduated from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington in 2019. He lives in East Fremont and loves to explore the city on his bike.

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Seattle, WA

Here’s why the Blue Angels in Seattle on Monday

Published

10 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Here’s why the Blue Angels in Seattle on Monday

SEATTLE – Known for their high-flying skills above the skies during air shows, the Blue Angels will be in Seattle once again on Monday.

But with Seafair not until the summer, many are wondering why the Navy pilots are in the Emerald City ahead of schedule.

Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornets are flying The Diamond Roll (four planes in formation), doing a 360-degree roll as one unit, flying at 400 mph over Lake Washington for the Seafair weekend in Seattle. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Keep reading to find out why the U.S. Navy Blue Angels are in Seattle on Jan. 12.

Why are the Blue Angels in Seattle now?

The Blue Angels returned to Seattle on Monday to begin preseason planning for the 2026 Boeing Seafair Air Show.

Pilots will assess airshow locations, scouting the skies and getting familiar with the landscape ahead of the Seafair Weekend Festival, when they perform in three separate air shows. Their visit brings the iconic Blue Angels F/A-18 Super Hornets to the city, the aircraft pilots use during the air show.

Blue Angels pilots plan to stay in Seattle until Tuesday, coordinating with Seafair event organizers. Last year, only two Blue Angels pilots were in Seattle for preseason planning, instead of the entire squadron.

When are the Blue Angels coming back to Seattle?

The Blue Angels will fly back to western Washington for the 2026 Boeing Seafair Air Show, on Friday, July 31 – Sunday, August 2, 2026.

They’ll also be in town for two practice runs on Thursday, July 30.

When is the 2026 Seafair Air Show?

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will perform in three air shows throughout Seafair weekend. They’re happening each afternoon on July 31 through Aug. 2 on Lake Washington and at Genesee Park.

The multi-day Seafair Weekend Festival also includes the Apollo Mechanical Cup Hydroplane Races, along with live entertainment, food and drinks, and family-friendly activities. Tickets for the festival go on sale in February.

Who are the Blue Angels?

The Blue Angels is a team of elite Navy flight demonstrators, showcasing their aviation skills in high-speed, precision aerobatic performances.

They perform in air shows across the U.S. each year, with the goal of inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country, displaying the teamwork and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.

Formed in 1946, this year marks the 80th year of the Blue Angels. They take pride in performing for audiences both at home and abroad, showcasing the excitement, precision, and power of Naval aviation.

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The Source: Information in this story came from U.S. Navy Blue Angels, Seafair, and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.

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Seattle, WA

Seattle Seahawks land 2 players on list of potential salary cap cuts in 2026

Published

22 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Seattle Seahawks land 2 players on list of potential salary cap cuts in 2026

No matter how the playoffs go for the Seatte Seahawks, general manager John Schneider and his team are looking at a very busy offseason ahead.

In addition to their usual preparations for the 2026 NFL draft, Seattle has a ton of important players who are about to become unrestricted free agents. That list includes special teams superstar Rashid Shaheed, running back Ken Walker and defensive standouts Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant.

It’s going to be really difficult to keep that entire group together, even with a lot of cap space projected to be open in 2026. The Seahawks may have to create room with some salary cap casualties after the season is over.

On that note, Over the Cap has listed a pair of Seattle players as potential cap casualties. Let’s review both of them.

OLB Uchenna Nwosu

Dec 18, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Blake Corum (22) dives for a touchdown against Seattle Seahawks linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (7) in the second half at Lumen Field. | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

Coming in at No. 46 on OTC’s list is veteran edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu, who has one year remaining on his contract with a cap hit just over $20 million. Nwosu has been valuable when he’s on the field but he’s also missed a ton of time due to injuries and it will be difficult to justify his cap hit with so many other players to pay.

Seattle can save a little over $11.5 million if they cut Nwosu, before June 1 or after. However, they would also take on a dead money hit north of $8.5 million, which takes a lot of the flavor out of those cap savings.

In 45 games with the Seahawks, Nwosu has tallied 19.5 sacks, 52 QB hits, 24 tackles for a loss, five forced fumbles and eight pass breakups.

That’s a lot of good production across the board as an all-around defender, but he’ll turn 30 years old before next season is over and there are a lot of mouths to feed for Mike Macdonald’s defense.

Over the Cap projects there’s a 58.5% chance that the Seahawks will wind up cutting him. Our best guess is that will be the case, especially if they want to pursue someone like Maxx Crosby on the trade market.

K Jason Myers

Jan 3, 2026; Santa Clara, California, USA; Seattle Seahawks place kicker Jason Myers (5) kicks a field goal against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half at Levi’s Stadium. | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The only other Seahawks player who made the list (at No. 77) was placekicker Jason Myers, where the team has an interesting choice to make.

Myers has been around since the 2019 season and he’s come through for them more often than not. In 117 games he’s converted 200 of 232 field goal attempts, coming out to 86.2%. On extra point attempts he’s gone 292/307 for 95.1%.

Those are very solid numbers for an NFL kicker, and when you have a solid option at this position you don’t mess with it.

Another factor working in Myers’ favor is that Seattle really can’t save all that much money by cutting him. According to OTC’s numbers the Seahawks would create $5.1 million in cap room by cutting him, with a dead money hit of $1,875,000.

Five million might get Seattle a decent backup for their interior offensive line, or another contributor to Mike Macdonald’s defense. It’s not enough to really move the needle for this roster, though.

OTC gives it a 52.5% chance that Myers will get cut, but we don’t see that happening. If they want to lower his cap hit, the Seahawks can create a little over $3 million for 2026 with an extension. That’s the only move they should be looking to make at this spot.

Kraken Extend Streak In Comeback OT Loss | Seattle Kraken

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Kraken Extend Streak In Comeback OT Loss | Seattle Kraken

And while Dunn’s head coach insisted afterwards he doesn’t believe in “measuring stick games” the Kraken measured up fairly well in this one considering they played a pretty poor first period and needed half of the second frame to get any type of offense going against the league’s No. 2 defensive unit.

But they eventually got it going and the salvaged point, as Dunn mentioned, was huge in that it allowed the Kraken to remain in third place in the Pacific Division – just two points behind leaders Vegas and Edmonton – as they now embark on a five-city road trip. They extended their points streak to 10 games in the process, going 8-0-2 that stretch to transform a season hinging on the brink.

Mats Zuccarello got the overtime winner for Minnesota, converting a Kirill Kaprizov pass off a 2-on-1 break after the Kraken had been foiled just moments prior on their own odd-man rush. That foiled an outstanding night for Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer, who’d made several huge stops in both overtime and the third period to keep things tied, as well as prior to that frame to give his team the shot at a comeback.

The Kraken had spent the past week filling opposition nets with pucks but waited until the final 17 minutes to score their first goal of this game. By that point, they’d been trailing 2-0 since a pair of 42-foot wrist shot goals by Ryan Hartman and Brock Faber in the first period silenced the home crowd.

“The first period was awful, and our execution was probably the biggest part of that,” Dunn said. “It’s just tough when you’re chasing the game a little bit to start the game. So, we kind of set ourselves up for the second period to come out and play the right way and I thought as the game went on, we got a lot better.

“And I thought it was a pretty competitive game both ways. A lot of chances both ways.”

Grubauer kept things close from there, stopping 31 of 34 shots on the night to give his team a chance to get back in it.

Adam Larsson then got the Kraken on the board three minutes into the final period with a slap shot goal from the right circle after Dunn had rung one off the post on a prior blast seconds earlier. And the Kraken weren’t done yet.

The Wild ran into penalty trouble not long after and the Kraken capitalized on the power play with Matty Beniers banging home a net front rebound off a Jared McCann shot that lifted the home side into a 2-2 tie and sent the Climate Pledge Arena crowd into a frenzy.

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