One Seattle Plan Update - October 2025

Christian: [0:00] Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. This is your host, Christian Nossum, with the Awesome Nossum Group at Wilson Realty Exchange, Inc and today we are here with my awesome co-host Mr. Varun Jain also an agent here on the Awesome Nossum Group. Varun, thanks for joining me.

Varun: [0:17] Yeah. Good to be here.

Christian: [0:19] We have a lot to go over today. What are we going over?

Varun: [0:23] We are doing a recap of the One Seattle plan, and there are multiple phases to it, so we are just unpacking what's passed, what is coming for you, how do you take advantage of the changes that are in play right now. So Christian, why don't you start us off with just what is One Seattle plan?

Christian: [0:41] Yeah. So there's a lot of stuff going into this One Seattle plan. So essentially, the One Seattle plan is Seattle's zoning plan for the next few decades, at least 20 years. Yeah. It's a big deal, uh, and it's happening right now, so we get to help shape this as Seattleites.

Varun: [1:01] Yeah.

Christian: [1:02] And as investors and homeowners as well. Everyone gets to do, be, take a part of this. Yep. And that's- that's kind of the nice thing is that they are listening to our opinions. Um- Yeah. They're taking

Varun: [1:12] feedback.

Christian: [1:13] Yeah. And they're, they're actually taking the feedback, which is nice. So the general idea of what this is, is the mayor, Bruce Harrell, has proposed his version of what he wants to see. They did this earlier in the year. Actually, last year they did this. Uh, it went through a ton of iterations and after many meetings and feedback from the community, it was eventually passed. I'll let you kind of go over that in a second a little bit more, but essentially what has been passed as of July of 2025 was- Up to four units can be built on every single lot in the city. In some cases, this can even be as many as six units, depending on a few different things, like if you're close to transit or not, if there's affordable housing on them. Yeah. All sorts of little things like that. Some other changes are the parameters for floor area ratio, otherwise known as FAR, uh, lot coverage, building height, setbacks, parking, and so on. We did a super deep dive into this. Yeah. Like, really deep dive into this One Seattle plan on episode 132. So if you really wanna understand the whole thing, go back to that, listen to that, then come back, listen to this- Yeah … understand what was actually passed and what didn't get passed. And Varun, why don't we talk about kinda the timelines and things like that for this?

Varun: [2:41] Yeah, so, uh, the original One Seattle proposal was kind of a reaction to the house bill that was House Bill 1110 and 1337 that were passed in 2023. Yep. And so, uh, what Seattle did was Seattle took the lead and decided to go above and beyond the minimum requirements of those two house bills, and that's what One Seattle plan was. Now, uh, the, the, the main purpose of One Seattle plan is to increase middle housing, which is what was missing, and is currently missing in Seattle. Mm-hmm. Uh, create more affordable housing. And Seattle's invested a lot in infrastructure, transport infrastructure. We have the light rail, we have all these, uh, major red, red bus lines that go through- Yep the city.

Christian: [3:29] All the bike lanes.

Varun: [3:30] All the bike lanes. So the, the city wanted to make sure that the One Seattle plan essentially focuses on and promotes use of transit versus using more cars. And so that was kind of the whole idea of the One Seattle plan. But like any other big initiative with any government body, what was proposed was not what was passed.

Christian: [3:52] Yeah.

Varun: [3:53] Um, there was pushback from neighborhoods. The city did take feedback. Yep. And so because they had to pass- Something that met minimum state requirement by July 1. That's what they ended up doing. They passed a watered-down version of One Seattle plan with the hope of catching up, uh, through second half of 2025 and 2026 and make iterative changes to the plan and still get to a higher density than was initially proposed.

Christian: [4:24] Yeah. So let's go over kinda what was actually passed- Yeah, yeah … in this initial kinda interim- Interim code, yeah … interim bill. Yeah. Yeah. Code, I guess, yeah. So what is currently allowed now in Seattle is you can do four units on pretty much every lot in the city. They increased lot coverage to 50% of the lot. So what that means is if the lot is 5,000 square feet, 2,500 square feet of that can be building. It used to be, for the most part, 35%, so that's kind of a big increase, 15% increase. They increased the height limit to allow for a third story to be built. They increased the floor area ratio so you can add more units. They decreased the park- parking requirements, uh, which that usually gets people fired up, so-

Varun: [5:13] Yeah … Speaker: just throwing that out there. It did get changed. Setbacks were moved to a sliding scale based on the number of units. So if it's one to two units, the setbacks were 15 feet from the front and the back of the lot, and if you do three or more units, it's only 10 feet. So that was what was actually changed. Uh, what didn't make the cut, they wanted to allow one unit per 1,200 and square… 1,250 square feet of lot. There's no upper limit on the number of units then that can be built on a lot. Uh, upzoning of lots in and around new neighborhood centers. For example, the original proposal called for some of the lots to be upzoned from neighborhood residential to low rise or mid rise. That's essentially going from a three story to a four story to a six story structure. Um, and then they wanted 10-foot setbacks for every unit no matter the number of units you built. Yeah

Christian: [6:11] Yeah.

Varun: [6:12] So I still think this is a win. This is a step in the right direction. I am, I'm definitely excited about two pieces that got passed, which was the third story addition, I think that's a huge win. Mm-hmm. And then the, just the increased FAR and lot coverage. That'll help build bigger units. And there are two more rounds of changes coming. Uh, let's put a pin on that because we'll come back to it later here, uh, and talk a little bit more about the timelines of the two rounds of changes that are proposed right now. Let's, let's talk about how a homeowner or an investor can take advantage of the changes that are in place right now.

Christian: [6:49] Yeah. All right, so there's a lot of moving pieces to this plan, and the last few months has been a collective learning experience- For everyone. Yeah. Including, I think, the city and the, the planning department and everything, 'cause it's a lot that's changed. It's a lot,

Varun: [7:03] yeah.

Christian: [7:04] So as a homeowner and an investor, if you're considering building an ADU or a DADU, uh, on your property, this is all really good news for you because now you have more options. In the past, DADUs were limited to just 1,000 square feet. Per the new plan, there's actually no restriction on the size of the unit as long as you stay within the lot coverage and FAR limits for the lot. You can now build larger 1,250 to 1,500 square foot units, allowing for more spacious three, four-plus bedroom houses, and that's a big proposal that Mr. or Mayor Harrell really wanted. Yeah. While 1,000 square foot DADUs are great and you can build three bed units, they're kind of tight.

Varun: [7:50] Yeah.

Christian: [7:51] Adding more square footage obviously makes it more, feel more like an actual home that a family can live in. Yeah. And that's what he wanted, that middle housing. 1,500

Varun: [7:58] feels like a good starter home.

Christian: [7:59] It's like great size starter home. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So these new regulations also increase the height limit, allowing you to build three stories, which it was just two stories, so you were kinda limited on how much square footage and how big it, the, the unit could actually be built. Yeah. So all of this allows for more customizations, which is great. Gives you the homeowner or an investor much more ability to have a better sized unit that's more attractive to the market.

Varun: [8:25] Yeah. But I, I would also caution investors and homeowners, especially investors, because being investors- Mm … I think sometimes you have a tendency to maximize the lot.

Christian: [8:36] Mm-hmm.

Varun: [8:37] It might not be the right strategy on every lot. So be aware of your neighborhood. Build according to what would fit in that neighborhood. Don't try to overbuild it. Just because you can build it doesn't mean you have to.

Christian: [8:49] Yeah.

Varun: [8:49] For example- Or you

Christian: [8:50] should.

Varun: [8:50] Or you should. Yeah. Like, if you're in a neighborhood where there are all ramblers on the street and that's what people are buying-

Christian: [8:58] Mm-hmm

Varun: [8:58] a three story structure's gonna stick out like a sore thumb. Yeah. Don't build a three story structure. Maybe build a two story, but more wider structure to still give kind of a feeling of a house and a unit that fits in that neighborhood versus something that won't, and then it becomes a difficult, uh, property to sell. Mm-hmm. So think about those things as well. Also, uh, what's the intended use of that building? Uh, is it going to be a rental or is it going to be sold? Uh, stacked flats work great as rentals, right? Easy to maintain, they're all together. But selling that- As individual units or as a complete building might be more challenging. So depending on your intended final use, you have to choose the right plan.

Christian: [9:42] Yep. Yeah. Yep. For example, we're building a daddy right now in View Ridge, which is a great neighborhood. It's where we live, and we were really going back and forth when we were deciding what to build- Yeah … 'cause these laws, we knew that something was gonna change, and we could probably build a lot bigger than what we were gonna do. And for that exact lot, even though we could have gone three stories, we could have done closer to 1,500 square feet, it didn't make sense.

Varun: [10:08] Yeah.

Christian: [10:08] And so while we were excited and, like, eager to do something bigger than we normally do, financially, resale-wise, and cost-wise, it just didn't financially make any sense for us to do it. Yeah. So make sure that just because it's exciting and just because maybe ego-wise you want to because you wanna be the first to do it and to be cool, that might not make the most sense financially. So-

Varun: [10:31] Yeah … Speaker: check yourself. If you have questions, reach out. Like, we are- Yeah … investors. We have a bunch of friends who are investors- Mm-hmm so we can help you figure out what's the right play for your particular lot.

Christian: [10:41] Exactly. So in addition to the actual construction cost for the structure, you really need to pay attention to some of these other costs, such as utility upgrades and street improvements that you might not think about.

Varun: [10:53] Yeah.

Christian: [10:53] In Seattle, we are starting to hear that Seattle City Light is requiring you to get underground power to your site from the nearest electrical pole. And in, in some cases, you also have to upgrade the transformer That is an unintended cost that you might not understand- Right … or even know. Yeah. And the unfortunate thing too is that Seattle City Light has increased their timeline for these projects, and they're taking over 20 weeks sometimes to figure out what you have to do. So figure these time frames out while you're, you're underwriting.

Varun: [11:30] Yeah. Factor in the time frame. Factor in the additional cost, because again, trenching through a city street or a sidewalk is expensive. It gets very expensive very fast.

Christian: [11:40] Yep. Yep, and that might be what you have to do. Uh, another hidden cost is that the city might ask you to do street improvements, like updating the sidewalks or adding ADA ramps to the sidewalks. So I've heard this from a handful of, of investors where they had no clue that the city was gonna require this, and all of a sudden they now have to put four ADA sidewalk ramps on this intersection.

Varun: [12:05] Yeah, those yellow things with dots. Yeah.

Christian: [12:07] Yeah.

Varun: [12:08] To get on

Christian: [12:08] and off easily. Where there were no ramps before. It was just, like, a curb. Um, and now the city's putting that expense on investors versus on the city. Yeah. They're trying to get the investors to pay for it. Yeah. So, which is an ear- weird way to go about it, but let's talk about what's coming next.

Varun: [12:23] Yeah. So as we talked about it, right, uh, because of the initial pushback, uh, or the pushback on to the initial plan from certain neighborhoods- Yeah the city passed a version of the One Seattle plan to meet the base requirement for the house bills Uh, what they are proposing is two more rounds of changes. Phase one, which is coming later in 2025, I think the timelines, they'll get the phase one items into law in October of this year- Mm-hmm … which is coming up very fast.

Christian: [12:54] Very fast.

Varun: [12:55] And that would cover items like increasing the FAR limit for stacked flats, easing the development standards if you retain the trees on the lot, uh, easing back on parking requirements even more, especially in and around the neighborhood centers where you have the transit stops, and focusing more on community-based development. Before we jump into the changes, in addition to some of the things that we talked about, there is, there are a couple of things, at least one loophole I'm aware of that is still open, is 1,000 square foot of an ADU doesn't count against your FAR.

Christian: [13:28] Yeah.

Varun: [13:28] So if you're right now thinking of getting plans approved, you have till October before they might catch and close that loophole, uh, and you might lose 1,000 square foot of FAR exemption. Mm-hmm. Uh, so if you wanna catch it, uh, now, and you are, uh, in a position to get a plan submitted, do it. Get the extra 1,000 square foot. Yeah. That was kind of my plug for a learning that I had recently. Now let's jump into the timelines. So the initial plan, as we talked about, was not what was proposed in 2024 or early 2025. Some of the neighborhoods had pushed back against this drastic change, so the city ended up passing interim code to meet the bare minimum requirement for the state house bills. Uh, now there are two more rounds of changes coming up. First round, phase one, expected to be passed into law October of this year, so coming up pretty fast. Mm-hmm. City is voting on that plan September 17 to 19, and phase one of the plan is expected to cover things like, um- Uh, uh, removing or easing, uh, parking requirements even further for, uh, neighborhood, uh, centers, more community-based, uh, development. So think allowing for daycare centers in these neighborhood, uh, new neighborhood centers that are- Or childcare

Christian: [14:45] and

Varun: [14:46] stuff like that childcare centers, yeah. The city's also proposing increased FAR limits for stack flats. Mm. Uh, so essentially promoting more density when it makes sense, especially around the neighborhood centers where you have transit. So a

Christian: [14:59] stack flat, just if you didn't know what that is, it's basically units that are on top of each oth- each other. Yeah. So like an apartment building style.

Varun: [15:06] Right, apartment building style- Yeah … but it's a smaller building, usually like- Yep … six units or so.

Christian: [15:10] Or maybe four.

Varun: [15:11] Yeah. Depending

Christian: [15:11] on.

Varun: [15:11] Depending on- Maybe. Yeah … yeah, what you build.

Christian: [15:13] Yeah.

Varun: [15:13] So that's phase one. Phase two is where the city's revisiting the up zoning, which did not get passed. Mm-hmm. And that would be a big step change in zoning for, uh, lots in and around the neighborhood centers where some of the lots might go from neighborhood res- residential all the way to mid-rise or commercial. Uh, and there's a variety of changes, like it goes from low-rise one to three, mid-rise one, two, and commercial. And so, uh, that slew of up zoning is what they are pushing for. Uh, we don't know yet what's gonna get passed. It's, again, a 2026 item, so when they get to it, hopefully we'll get more updates, and the city is doing a lot more community engagement around that.

Christian: [15:57] Mm-hmm. Yeah. So also in phase one, there is an int- increased emphasis on affordable housing, as there should be. Yeah. Also, higher density near these major transit hubs, which, again, makes sense. You want people, more people to live near where transit is available so that they can get to work and fun stuff, um-

Varun: [16:17] And not have to drive a car everywhere.

Christian: [16:18] Exactly. Whether or not people actually do it, we'll see. I think the rest of the world has figured out how to do this. Americans, we might be able to as well. We'll see. I don't know. And then also balancing the tree coverage and the need for new housing, 'cause it's, we're trying to balance all of these things, and the city's weighing everything against itself- Yeah … or each other and listening to what the people want, so. If you want to see the actual One Seattle plan, just Google it. Uh, the city actually has a very detailed website where you can track the progress, uh, where you can see upcoming meetings, where you can see the different phases and figure out the changes that made it into the final bill, and which ones are slated for the next upcoming round. As we said in the past, this plan will reshape the city's zoning for the next decade, two decades, 20 plus years. Like, it's gonna be the new plan. Yeah. So if you are a homeowner or an investor that has a vested interest or wants to have a vested interest in what the city's gonna look like, make your voice heard. Yeah. You have that opportunity. They are listening. We will continue to produce more podcast episodes about these changes. Yeah. So if you want to continue to learn, continue to follow along with the progress, find these loopholes that we're kinda seeing that maybe you can take advantage of, even if they're a short timeframe-

Varun: [17:44] Yeah … Speaker: continue listening to the podcast. If you haven't already subscribed, click subscribe on whatever podcast platform you like, or on YouTube, and if you wanna sign up for our email newsletter, you can do that as well. If you do wanna do that, we actually don't have a way to sign up for that online, so just DM us on Instagram, Awesome and Awesome Group, and we can add you to that list. But thank you so much, especially Varun, for your help in all of this. Yeah. Uh, it's always fun. We get to just chat about this all the time. Yeah.

Christian: [18:12] And-

Varun: [18:12] I get to nerd out about zoning.

Christian: [18:14] Exactly. Exactly, which is weirdly fun. So thank you for turni- tuning in today. If you enjoyed this discussion, again, just subscribe, help us out, uh, share this with your friends or investor friends, and that's it for this episode of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. We will see you next time. See ya.