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Issaquah council adopts Central Issaquah Pioneer Program, adds developer option on affordability
Summary
The council voted 5-2 to adopt the Central Issaquah Pioneer Program ordinance, creating a short-term pilot to encourage mixed-use housing in the urban core and authorizing an 8-year multifamily tax exemption. An amendment passed 4-3 allowing developers to choose between 8% units at 60% AMI or 10% at 80% AMI.
Issaquah City Council on March 18 adopted an ordinance establishing the Central Issaquah Pioneer Program, a pilot intended to spur mixed-use housing in the city’s urban core and better position the city for a planned Sound Transit extension. The ordinance passed as amended in a 5-2 voice vote.
The program authorizes a targeted multifamily property tax exemption (MFTE) for qualifying projects in a defined Central Issaquah area, gives projects an eight-year residential tax exemption, and requires the affordable units that are built under the program to remain affordable for the lifetime of the building. The ordinance as amended allows a developer to choose between the administration’s recommended option — 8% of units at 60% of Area Median Income (AMI) — or an alternative of 10% of units at 80% AMI, a change added by an amendment that passed 4-3 during council debate.
Economic Devel…
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