SEATTLE — Seattle leaders have spent years talking about turning more offices into housing as part of downtown’s evolution into a mixed-use neighborhood. Now, one developer says a weak office market and a shortage of new housing made that vision the most practical path forward.
After four years of unsuccessfully trying to lease roughly 55,000 square feet of unfinished commercial space beneath the Ivey on Boren, Holland Partner Group recently converted the space into 44 loft-style apartments.
The project comes as Seattle faces two diverging trends. Downtown office vacancy remains elevated, while the pipeline of new housing has slowed sharply. City data show applications for new housing have fallen 94% from their 2020 peak, prompting warnings from developers and housing advocates that today’s slowdown could become tomorrow’s housing shortage…