Support for Affordable Housing

Futurewise supports affordable housing policies and practices at the local and state level. Ensuring that affordable, equitable housing options are available in our urban areas is a key component of growth management in Washington.

At the local level in Seattle, we are the field managers for the Seattle for Everyone, broad coalition of affordable housing developers and advocates, for-profit developers and businesses, labor and social justice advocates, environmentalists and urbanists, all united to build an equitable, prosperous, thriving, and inclusive Seattle by ensuring that the benefits of the city’s growth are shared by all current and future residents – from those struggling with homelessness to wage-earners and families.

The Seattle for Everyone coalition is built on a foundation of support for the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) and the “Grand Bargain” provisions that will produce and preserve critically needed affordable and market-rate housing in Seattle and is the first ever comprehensive package of affordable housing policies that will provide for a growing, inclusive city over the coming decades.

For more information, see the Seattle for Everyone website here.

We also use our strength, reputation and expertise in the State Legislature, and our partner relationships to ensure policy outcomes that support equitable housing and health outcomes.  For example, we support the following types of legislation:

REET 3  - Use real estate excise taxes to support the creation of affordable housing

Multi-Family Tax Exemption - a tax exemption on multifamily projects in exchange for setting aside 20% of the homes as affordable housing

Preservation Tax Exemption - a 15-year tax exemption for property owners who set-aside 25% of their buildings for low-income tenants earning less than 50 to 60 percent of area median income