Blistering Pace of Downtown Development Shows No Sign of Slowing

Confident developers and a growing residential population driving Seattle’s historic boom

 SEATTLE (March 9, 2017) – The Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) released its 2016 Year-End Development Guide today and data indicate another great year downtown. Commercial construction projects continue to break ground in an already-hot market and new residents are snapping up apartments and condos. For a comprehensive picture of development in Seattle’s flourishing center city or to request a development guide contact elliottk@downtownseattle.org.

Highlights of this year’s guide include:

• $4.4 billion in construction was under way in downtown at the end of 2016. This is four times as much development as occurred during our 2010 construction low point.
• Seattle’s dynamism is reflected in its changing skyline. By the end of 2016, 68 buildings were under construction – more than at any point since DSA tracking began in 2005.
• In 2016, Seattle hosted more cranes than New York and San Francisco combined and optimistic developers are planning millions more square feet of commercial and residential space. In fact, 69 percent of projects under construction include a residential component.
• Hotel rooms are coming online at a record pace, with six thousand hotel rooms in the pipeline (on top of the more than 14,000 rooms already available.).
• Downtown construction activity across residential, office and hotel sectors reached its highest point since tracking began in 2005. Nearly 12 million square feet of new office space is expected between now and the end of 2019.
• Industry leaders like Facebook, F5 and Amazon are expanding downtown, and new firms like Expedia, Google and Weyerhaeuser are bringing in additional workers and demand for office space.

“Twenty sixteen was a fantastic year downtown, with growth in parks and public spaces, along with private development,” said DSA President and CEO Jon Scholes. “Two of the last three years, the fastest growing demographic in downtown has been children. Our residential population continues to increase and developers are planning years down the road when we expect to have even more families and workers in the heart of the city. There are 47 residential buildings alone under way and, combined with commercial work, we will nearly double the number of finished projects in 2017 compared to last year.”

DSA publishes two development guides each year to quantify the total amount of residential and commercial development activity taking place within downtown Seattle.  An annual update summarizing all development activity for the previous calendar year is published in February.

For other downtown construction information, please visit our development homepage.

About Downtown Seattle Association

Established in 1958, the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) is a member-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to create a healthy, vibrant downtown. DSA advocates on behalf of business, nonprofit, arts and residential interests to create a downtown where everyone can live, work, shop and play.

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