[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6387404,"mediaKeyId","2116611-9b7955baaf95f8df1b492d905fb1a1f4","parentId",2116611,"title","Developers, nonprofits and architects tell Senate panel that high costs, slow permitting and financing gaps are blocking housing production","audioSeconds",4957,"startMs",754000,"endMs",5711000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2116611-9b7955baaf95f8df1b492d905fb1a1f4&start=754&end=5711","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2116611-9b7955baaf95f8df1b492d905fb1a1f4/thumbnail_754000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6387404/Washington/Developers-nonprofits-and-architects-tell-Senate-panel-that-high-costs-slow-permitting-and-financing-gaps-are-blocking-housing-production","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6387404-88e835f66951d7c394cf051d8ba283f1/orig.mp4?Expires=1771197178&Signature=LbT2LDK4cAX~mztQlwtFb6esZVZd0hiQcxx-VPlMauSqYWyzhkCMo3ut5fdPeh9xTWIt4od5RFntFUy1FSS33YvxJgDvGPYLoXDEH4yFA~JH0dt9MPf3~jvakHtJQ~REi5920KpTtmHywx-OMzK6xWXgS-d7hJzsOam~IWobBTs2YDTnNW6zSNuDq7Yb6sEEHAUXZyKa-MrQMLaq3pHHVU1ia0KReUntJfF-X7UsJ8~GwcLdAzcTqI4tb8QlobwucL0hLTtjVJ77niRNVh5BAoEX8Q3SmTd28OnLGK4XcWc14wWAOeSG7uUabNx~56veaIpOxlefLNY2XWbpNLt61w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Senate Housing","date","2025-01-15T00:00:00Z","article","At a work session during the Senate Housing Committee's first meeting of the 2025 legislative session, a series of developers, nonprofit housing providers and architects described how long timelines, rising input costs and capital constraints are limiting new housing production across Washington.

The presenters told committee members the supply side of housing — land sourcing, entitlements, permitting, financing and construction — can take four to seven years and that the combination of higher interest rates, rising construction and insurance costs, and higher local fees is making many projects financially infeasible.

Why it matters: Lawmakers said the state needs more housing across price points. Witnesses linked housing scarcity to specific, changeable policy levers: zoning and upzoning to increase developable land, permit-review reforms to shorten timelines, tax and fee policies (including multifamily tax exemptions and local impact fees), and targeted capital programs for nonprofits.

Highlights from presenters

- Development lifecycle and economics: Carl Charette, a multifamily developer with AvalonBay Communities, walked the committee through the typical life cycle from land acquisition to stabilization, noting projects commonly take \"a little bit over 5 years\" from concept to completion. Charette said \"real estate development is a is a formula. It's a math equation,\" and warned that rising interest rates and construction costs have squeezed yield-on-cost metrics. He offered a representative mid-rise case study (podium-style, 5'8 stories) in Redmond showing a development yield below the threshold institutional capital requires.

- Affordability and nonprofit production: Ryan Donahue and Ethan Robinson of Habitat for Humanity of Seattle and Kittitas Counties described nonprofit homeownership production and the scarcity of starter homes. Donahue said Habitat's vision is \"to build a world where everyone has a safe, decent, and affordable place to call home.\" They asked the state to expand homeownership funding in the housing trust fund, create a revolving construction loan fund (low-interest) for nonprofits, and extend a sales-and-use tax exemption to nonprofit homeownership projects similar to exemptions that exist for rental or shelter projects.

- Small-scale development barriers: Architect-developer Tessa Bradley (Artisan Group) described developing a six-unit, high-performance mixed-use building in Tumwater and called small-scale development \"death by a thousand cuts.\" Bradley said long permitting timelines increased her project's costs by roughly 30% from initial pro forma to construction, described expensive local utility moves (Puget Sound Energy undergrounding) and noted commercial lenders required a debt-service coverage ratio the project could not meet without favorable terms from a banking partner; her team had to pledge their architecture company as collateral.

- Mixed-use/multifamily and risk/cap rates: Angela Rosman and Robert Pantley of Natural and Built Environments presented pro forma analyses for a 100-unit Redmond project. They said per-unit costs and cap-rate expectations mean a typical sale at stabilization could produce negative net proceeds under current conditions. Rosman and Pantley argued that reducing risk (shorter timelines, predictable permitting, lower soft costs) would lower cap rates and make projects bankable for institutional buyers.

- Building homes in Eastern Washington: Jay Roberts of Cascade Custom Homes and past BIAW president described cost drivers for single-family construction outside Puget Sound, noting local impact fees, building-code-driven increases (energy systems, insulation, windows) and permitting costs. He urged aligning Washington's energy-code specifics with national practice and improving fee transparency to lower starter-home costs.

Policy proposals and recurring themes

- Zoning and supply: Multiple presenters said expanded zoning and predictable upzoning reduce land costs and are a necessary condition for more housing.

- Permit review and staffing: Speakers recommended state-level support to speed permit review, particularly in smaller cities that lack staffing capacity.

- Targeted finance for nonprofits: Habitat asked for a revolving low-interest construction loan fund, plus a larger share of the housing trust fund devoted to homeownership production. They also suggested expanding existing land-acquisition programs (LAP, CHIP).

- Tax and fee tools: Presenters supported multifamily tax exemptions, sales-and-use tax relief for nonprofit homeownership construction, and scrutiny of local impact fees that vary widely between jurisdictions.

- Small-scale developer support: Witnesses urged policy choices that reduce fixed, per-project costs (utility relocation, unpredictable local fees) so owner-developers can build smaller projects without needing deep institutional capital.

Quotes from the hearing

\"To build apartments in today's world... costs upwards of $500,000 per apartment,\" Carl Charette said. \"We're sourcing so much outside capital and there is so much risk in the timelines...\" Tessa Bradley said of small-scale development: \"Small scale development is death by a thousand cuts.\" Ryan Donahue said Habitat's role is to create permanently affordable homeownership opportunities for households shut out of the market.

Ending

Witnesses told the committee that no single policy will solve the shortage and urged coordinated action on zoning, permitting, fees and targeted capital programs. Committee members asked clarifying questions and were offered follow-up materials and detailed pro formas by presenters.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Housing - 1/15/2025 1:30 PM","oneSentenceSummary","A Senate Housing Committee work session drew developers, nonprofit builders and architects who described a multi-year development timeline, rising construction and insurance costs, financing constraints and policy fixes they say would expand supply and lower per-unit costs.","taxTitle","Housing, Senate, Legislative Sessions, Washington","taxId",20505,"location","Washington","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6387410,"Senate Housing Committee reviews SB 5129 to refine rules for common-interest communities",0,172000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2116611-9b7955baaf95f8df1b492d905fb1a1f4&start=172&end=172","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2116611-9b7955baaf95f8df1b492d905fb1a1f4/thumbnail_172000.jpg","/articles/6387410/Washington/Senate-Housing-Committee-reviews-SB-5129-to-refine-rules-for-common-interest-communities","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6387410-1a8ad2273b25c685c9f7e2a08c3c2f58/orig.mp4?Expires=1771197178&Signature=VwLlvHQy2r3KP1rilLr3SgGCB1780SYGkvn47Oj41~lGqscEygupMliklYv5Lja~p6xIRuEBcp6U4MB~psWss6z3O2YffaU-K-uJrsIvV9O5J6ICP65mG-yhc4OjA83buD5HCa-QQ8~ieb37O51WvWJVGJ3FR8VWoAt-qY4ZrR06MiMOX39~20BsnqYW8gQZHt4PFf2j7N7ZwhJDosgJjczvSx7EcNMoCsYzroXIyBGJ3Da8teWumeUv2t9mB5ZM-0eAcTwmW0sVGp2601f4dldnqpljcolMmypcXB-5LAJ8zd4Qig4L1Nj-hoo8n6w~i5Z3tGCCQM7m~4aQhgcW-A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","At the first Senate Housing Committee meeting of the 2025 legislative session, staff briefed members on Senate Bill 5129, a package of updates to Washington's common-interest community law intended to clarify how older homeowners associations and condominiums operate under the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.

The bill, explained Bill Fosbury, staff counsel to the committee, makes changes in several areas including which pre-2018 condo and homeowners-association statutes control where conflicts arise; voting and ballot procedures; when resale certificates may be waived; limits on boards'authority to block heat-pump installations; siting rules for electric-vehicle charging stations; and how associations may invest reserve funds. Fosbury summarized the bill: \"Senate Bill 5129 concerns common interest communities.\" He told the committee some provisions would take effect Jan. 1, 2026, while the full transition to the Uniform Act remains scheduled for Jan. 1, 2028.

Why it matters: Common-interest communities (condominiums, cooperatives, planned-unit developments and homeowners associations) govern a growing share of Washington housing. The bill's changes would alter owners' rights and association administration, affecting resale transactions, day-to-day association processes and how associations steward long-term reserve funds.

Key items in the bill

- Statutory priority: The bill makes provisions of the Horizontal Property Regimes Act (residential condominiums created before July 1, 1990) and the Homeowners Association Act (associations created before July 1, 2018) controlling where they conflict with other statutes.

- Meetings and ballots: The bill would limit associations'ability to vary procedures for meetings held by telephone or video, require roll-call or verbal votes where a board votes, and require ballots to include space for write-in candidates. Secret ballots physically received at meetings must be counted without incumbent board members present.

- Resale certificates: The bill allows a buyer or seller to proceed when a resale certificate is \"unavailable,\" under defined circumstances, giving parties a path to close transactions when an association cannot or does not produce a certificate in time.

- EV chargers and heat pumps: The bill would prohibit associations from restricting the installation of electric-vehicle charging stations in many single-family or site-condominium settings (except where the charger would occupy a common element) and bars boards from unreasonably withholding approval for unit-owner installation of heat-pump equipment on or in common elements.

- Reserve funds investments: Associations would be permitted to invest reserve funds and securities if the total value of reserve funds in interest-bearing accounts exceeds $250,000 and new investments would not reduce that threshold below 50% of reserves.

What witnesses said

Senator Jamie Petersen, the bill's prime sponsor, described months of stakeholder negotiation and said the bill tries to address concerns raised after last year's shift of older communities under the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. \"The biggest things that this bill will do... is make the change to resale certificates so that we got agreement from everyone involved,\" Petersen said, adding that the bill reflects compromise among consumer advocates, attorneys, realtors and the Community Associations Institute.

Industry and stakeholder groups testified in support. Bill Clark of Washington Realtors said the organization \"supports the bill\" and welcomed the resale-certificate change and the revised exemptions for small communities. Teresa Torgerson, representing the Washington chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) Legislative Action Committee, said CAI participated in interim stakeholder negotiations and supports the bill while reserving some continuing technical concerns. Steve Horvath of HOA United and John Kresge, speaking for Quimper Village Senior Cohousing, urged adoption; Kresge said his association already follows the bill's proposed investment practices and warned that forcing associations into federally insured accounts could erode long-term purchasing power for future repairs.

What the bill does not do (yet)

- The committee held a briefing followed by public testimony; there was no committee vote recorded in the transcript excerpt.

- Several stakeholders noted remaining technical issues that they asked the sponsor and staff to continue working on in follow-up meetings.

Next steps

The committee paused the briefing to hold a work session on housing development but reconvened to hear public testimony on SB 5129. Multiple witnesses said they intend to continue technical discussions with the sponsor and staff as the bill moves through the process.

Ending note

Committee staff provided a bill report and indicated no fiscal note had been requested for SB 5129 in the material distributed at the hearing; chair and members asked no substantive questions of staff after the briefing.","Lawmakers heard a staff briefing and public testimony on Senate Bill 5129, a multi-point update to Washington's common-interest community law that would adjust meeting rules, resale-certificate provisions, reserve-fund investment limits and exemptions for very small communities.","actionData","errors"]

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Developers, nonprofits and architects tell Senate panel that high costs, slow permitting and financing gaps are blocking housing production

Senate Housing Committee reviews SB 5129 to refine rules for common-interest communities