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Permitting report: City records high residential and multifamily permitting in 2024
Summary
Permitting staff reported record or near‑record activity in 2024: 1,433 total residential units permitted, 1,035 multifamily units, 5,766 construction permits and a total private job valuation near $768 million; plan review pipeline includes about 1,400 units plus 2,000 in predevelopment.
Permitting staff told the Urban Experience Committee that 2024 set multiple local records for construction permitting and activity and that the city’s plan‑review pipeline remains large as projects move toward issuance.
Tammy Palmquist reported that the city permitted 1,433 residential units in 2024, up from 1,340 in 2023, and that multifamily permits totaled 1,035 units (2023: 984). She said the city issued 5,766 construction permits in 2024 and showed a total job valuation of about $768 million, exceeding the inflation‑adjusted 2006 high of $741 million. Tammy also said the city added more than 400,000 square feet of industrial permitted space in 2024 and that certificates of occupancy issued totaled 1,085 units.
Staff said workload and complexity have risen: state energy‑code updates and larger, more complex projects have increased review time. Tammy told the committee the department’s staff size is “the same” as in 2006 aside from a recent plans‑examiner promotion and two permit‑technician hires under recruitment.
Pipeline numbers shown to the committee included roughly 1,400 units currently in plan review and about 2,000 units identified in predevelopment through multifamily programs. Tammy said 546 of the units in plan review had been approved as of Jan. 8 but had not yet been issued.
Council members asked for additional breakdowns: a councilor asked whether plan‑review units were rental versus for‑sale; Tammy said she could provide that detail by email. One council member suggested the department track cumulative permits and COs since adoption of the city’s housing action plan to assess progress against adopted targets.
Tammy said the department will publish a fee study that goes into effect Jan. 22 and that the department is expanding online information about over‑the‑counter services and tenant improvement offerings.
