2025 Development Guide Highlights Downtown’s Momentum

DSA recently released its 2025 Year-End Development Guide, offering a comprehensive snapshot of the investment, construction and long-term growth shaping downtown Seattle.

The guide tracks projects across the downtown core — from those under construction to developments in the planning and permitting pipeline — providing members with a clear picture of how downtown continues to evolve. Together, these projects represent billions of dollars in private investment and underscore continued confidence in downtown as a place to build, grow and innovate.

More than a list of projects, the Development Guide is designed as a resource for members, stakeholders and policymakers. It illustrates how new housing, office space, hotels, cultural venues and infrastructure investments are coming together to support a more vibrant, connected and resilient downtown.

Released annually, the guide helps ground conversations about downtown’s recovery and future in real data and tangible progress. As Seattle moves into 2026, the projects highlighted in this year’s guide reflect both near-term activity and long-range vision — reinforcing downtown’s critical role in the region’s economic health.

Here are some highlights:

Residential construction leads among peers 

• Nearly 8,500 residential units were under construction citywide at the end of 2025, and about 40% were being built downtown. 
• Downtown Seattle ranked second among peer downtowns in the number of residential units currently under construction, with 3,325 units underway. 

Strong residential delivery in 2025 

• Downtown Seattle added more than 1,600 residential units in 2025, ranking third among peer downtowns analyzed. 

Downtown remains the city’s most populated neighborhood 

• Downtown’s residential population grew to more than 109,000 residents in 2025. 
• Newer residents skew younger, more diverse and more likely to be male than the citywide average. 
• Downtown’s median age declined to 33.7 years old, with significant growth among residents ages 25–34.

Development pipeline remains substantial, despite permit declines 

• Seattle ranks second among peer downtowns in projects that are proposed or in final planning, signaling continued long-term investor interest. 

Office market shows early signs of stabilization 

• Worker foot traffic continued to increase, with downtown averaging nearly 150,000 daily workers in 2025. 

Street-level vitality continues to build 

• More than 52 new street-level businesses opened in 2025, adding energy and momentum to downtown neighborhoods. 

“The past 15 years of downtown commercial and residential development have fueled Seattle’s growth, vibrancy and tax base,” DSA President & CEO Jon Scholes said. “More recently, downtown Seattle has benefited from significant housing production that has produced hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenues, created more opportunities for people to ditch their cars and live near transit and generated thousands more customers for small businesses. It’s clear that downtown housing delivers broad benefit, and today a record 109,000 people call downtown home.  

“But we know that new housing construction is projected to soon taper off, and we cannot afford to lose momentum given significant challenges in the office sector. Continued investment in housing within downtown is critical to affordability, street-level vitality and Seattle’s long-term economic success. Whether we sustain the incredible development run we’ve had is a policy choice of city leaders who must make it easier and cheaper to build housing. That’s a critical step to truly addressing affordability and accessibility in Seattle and sustaining a strong tax base.” 

DSA has tracked development trends since 2005, using comparable data to assess downtown investment and construction activity. The full Development Guide includes peer city comparisons, methodology and a glossary of terms.

Members — and the public as a whole — are encouraged to explore the full Development Guide and use it as a tool to stay informed, share insights and engage in conversations about what’s next for downtown Seattle.