Proposed New SoDo Housing Revives Vigorous Pushback from the Port
Seattle’s sports stadiums owners and erstwhile Sonics arena developer Chris Hansen are teaming up with building-trades unions and small businesses to do battle once again with the Port of Seattle and longshore workers over housing development near the baseball and football stadiums.
City Council President Sara Nelson’s proposal would permit about 1,000 housing units just south of T-Mobile Park on two blocks within the special stadium district. In reviving the debate about non-industrial development close to the Port, Nelson’s bill is opening fault lines between the Port and the city, between powerful unions, and within the City Council itself.
This time, a basketball arena is not on the table. The fight is over affordable housing and
development of “maker spaces,” intended for small manufacturers, artisans, and craftspeople. Nelson said new housing will help ease a city shortage, “put eyes on street’’ to reduce crime near the stadiums and would create badly needed affordable workspaces for small businesses.
Nelson, chair of the city council, rejects arguments that housing will conflict with Port activity, citing 2023 traffic studies that found no significant traffic congestion from such development. She has seen no evidence limited housing will deter Eastern Washington cargo moving to the Port. “I’ve always considered myself a champion of the Port as an economic development agency,” she said. “I always will be.”
https://www.postalley.org/2025/02/10/proposed-new-sodo-housing-revives-vigorous-pushback-from-the-port/