Land Use Committee backs 24-month extension for certain building permits, moves amended bill to council

The Seattle City Council Land Use Committee on April 17 voted 4-0 to recommend passage of Council Bill 120948, which would allow certain building-permit applicants a one-time, 24-month extension for projects vested to the 2015 or 2018 building code.

Under the legislation, property owners seeking the extension must attest that their project stalled because of financing issues and must have requested an extension prior to a cutoff date. The committee approved an amendment that changes the filing cutoff from the date in the original draft (11/12/2024) to Nov. 1, 2026, which staff said aligns with the anticipated adoption of the next building code.

Developers and housing advocates urged approval during public comment. Daniel Duval, who identified himself as "executive director of May of Washington State," said the bill “strongly supports Seattle's housing needs and continued economic recovery” and urged the council to advance the measure. Scott Koppelman of Amlee Residential described two stalled projects with master use permits that together would provide 706 apartments and estimated roughly $400 million in construction costs, saying the legislation would prevent those projects from becoming infeasible. “Without this legislation ... the time and added cost to redesign our project and the added construction cost to comply with new building codes would render our projects unfeasible for nearly a decade,” Koppelman said.

Council Member Strauss said he supports the extension but warned it would likely be the last pandemic-era extension he could back: “This will be the last set of extensions that I'll be able to support moving out of the economic downturn associated with the pandemic,” he said.

The committee approved the amendment and then voted to recommend passage of the amended bill. The recommendation will be transmitted to the full council for consideration at its April 22, 2025 meeting.