Port of Seattle Jumps Back Into Stadium District Housing Fracas

With Seattle's hearing examiner poised to consider an appeal of a City plan keeping the door closed on the potential legalization of housing in North SoDo near the stadiums, another major player has officially jumped back into the fight: the Port of Seattle. Earlier this week, the Port was granted intervenor status in the appeal of the city's draft Greater Duwamish Manufacturing and Industrial Center Subarea Plan filed by the MLB Stadium Authority and the Seattle Building Trades Council.

Despite a 6-3 vote of the Seattle City Council last year to legalize workforce housing in the stadium district, housing remains off the table after the bill was invalidated by the state's Growth Management Hearings Board and ultimately repealed this spring. And it would likely stay that way if the City Council adopts the subarea plan, which explicitly directs officials to "not amend codes to enable even limited residential uses" in the area, known as the Stadium Transition Area Overlay District or STOAD.


The Stadium Transition Area Overlay District takes up a small slice of land in north SoDo, largely focused around 1st Avenue apart from the stadiums themselves. (City of Seattle)

While the MLB Stadium Authority and the Building Trades Council were major proponents of former Council President Sara Nelson's bill legalizing housing in the STOAD, the Port of Seattle strongly opposed the move, and its newly granted intervenor status officially brings the two opposing factions into the hearing room to duke it out over the issue for the first time.

The Port argues that its interests are distinct from the City of Seattle's when it comes to the stadium district, arguing that the special-purpose district is "uniquely positioned to provide a distinct perspective" on the issues at appeal.

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