Spokane Mandates Cooling for Renters and Seattle Clears Development Bottleneck [8/03/26]
August 3, 2026
Aaron Kirk Douglas

Spokane Mandates Cooling for Renters and Seattle Clears Development Bottleneck [8/03/26]

Seattle ends hearing examiner appeals for citywide zoning changes

The Seattle City Council voted 5-4 on July 28 to eliminate pre-legislative appeals of citywide zoning legislation to the city’s hearing examiner.1 Challenges can still go to the state Growth Management Hearings Board or King County Superior Court after legislation passes, aligning Seattle with Bellevue, Everett, Tacoma, and King County. City leaders say these appeals have delayed zoning reforms by roughly six months on average, and active appeals have already pushed the second phase of the city’s growth plan, including about 30 new neighborhood centers, into 2027.2,3 Mayor Katie Wilson pledged to sign the bill, tying it to a comprehensive plan targeting at least 80,000 new units by 2044.

Why it matters: Removing the cheapest appeal avenue, a $120 filing, shortens the runway between council action and effective zoning. Upzones should reach the market faster, and owners in newly upzoned nodes should expect more competing supply over time.

Spokane adopts a renter’s right to cooling

The Spokane City Council voted 5-2 on July 29 to adopt Ordinance C36877, requiring landlords to provide adequate cooling in at least one room of every rental, expanding to every bedroom by 2032.4,5 Earlier drafts required every bedroom to stay below 80 degrees, but the final version was softened after landlord feedback. Landlords must respond within 72 hours of written notice, tenants who buy their own unit can deduct up to $500 from rent, permanent-system installations can qualify for two-year hardship extensions, and new construction permitted after Jan. 1, 2027 must include cooling. Supporters pointed to 14 Spokane deaths in the 2021 heat dome; dissenting council members and Mayor Lisa Brown flagged tenant cost pass-throughs and unfunded code enforcement work.

Why it matters: This goes beyond the state’s SB 6200, which lets tenants install portable cooling; Spokane now requires owners to provide it. Owners of older buildings face capital planning questions ahead of 2032, and other Washington cities may treat the ordinance as a template. 

Pacific Urban pays $112 million for a 387-unit Lynnwood community

Weidner Apartment Homes sold the 387-unit A’Capella Apartment Homes in Lynnwood to Pacific Urban Investors for $112 million, roughly $289,000 per unit, after buying the 1989-built property for $16 million in 1996.6 The community was 95% leased at sale following recent renovations. Seattle-area multifamily volume totaled $410 million through May, down sharply from $1.4 billion over the same period last year, per Yardi Matrix.

Why it matters: A large suburban trade at a healthy per-unit price shows institutional capital still competing for well-located Puget Sound assets even as overall volume thins. Sellers of stabilized 1980s-vintage product now have a fresh data point.

A record $725,000 wrongful eviction settlement

A Portland-based property manager agreed to pay $725,000 to a Vancouver renter who alleged wrongful eviction, described by legal aid attorneys as the largest known settlement of its kind in Washington.7 The case followed a 2024 state Court of Appeals ruling that stipulated agreements cannot require tenants to waive rights under state law. The company denied wrongdoing. Nearly 24,000 eviction cases were filed statewide last year, up 3%, and a tenant advocacy task force plans to pursue more such cases.

Why it matters: The settlement raises the financial stakes of aggressive eviction practices and bypass clauses in stipulated agreements. A counsel review of eviction workflows and settlement templates is cheap insurance by comparison.

Bellingham weighs opening all residential zones to movable dwellings

A Bellingham council proposal would allow movable dwelling units, including tiny homes on wheels, in all residential zones rather than only in manufactured home communities.8 The sponsor cited costs as low as $115,000 for a high-quality unit plus $10,000 to $25,000 in site preparation, versus $300,000 to $500,000 for a foundation-built accessory dwelling unit. The council will revisit the interim ordinance after the planning staff review the code, inspection, and fire safety questions.

Why it matters: Another early signal of Washington cities testing lower-cost infill formats. Movable units would compete at price points conventional construction cannot reach, though financing and siting standards remain unsettled.

UW Tacoma picks a partner for 500 student beds

The University of Washington selected Maslow’s Campus Communities to develop UW Tacoma’s on-campus student housing and dining project, a public-private partnership scheduled to open in late 2029.9 The project would house nearly 500 students and add the campus’s first traditional dining hall, with SERA Architects and Walsh Construction on the team. The selection is subject to Board of Regents approval as UW Tacoma works toward 10,000 students.

Why it matters: Nearly 500 on-campus beds will absorb some student demand that now flows into downtown Tacoma rentals, a factor for Tacoma submarket underwriting later this decade.

National and Federal Signals

Apartment markets tighten as financing gets harder

A July survey of nearly 160 apartment executives by the National Multifamily Housing Council found market conditions tightening for the first time in a year, with its tightness index at 57.10 Every other measure moved the wrong way: sales volume (46), equity financing (44), and debt financing (46) all signaled deterioration as higher inflation pushed interest rates up. Rents kept falling in high-supply Sun Belt markets even as national vacancy improved.

Why it matters: Operations are strengthening while capital gets more expensive. For Northwest owners, slowing deliveries support rents, but refinancing and sales remain the hard part.

First major Community Reinvestment Act overhaul since 1995

Federal regulators proposed rewriting Community Reinvestment Act rules, raising the small bank threshold from $412 million to $1 billion in assets and weighting lending over branches and deposits.11 About 800 banks would exit parts of CRA compliance, leaving only 86 institutions, roughly 3%, subject to the full requirements. The proposal would also narrow which community development groups qualify for bank grants. A 60-day comment period is open.

Why it matters: CRA obligations help drive bank lending and tax credit equity into low-income housing. A smaller pool of covered banks could thin that capital source, an early signal for affordable housing pipelines.

Fair housing groups sue HUD over grant restructuring

The National Fair Housing Alliance and the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center sued HUD on July 23 over new Fair Housing Initiatives Program criteria they say would disqualify nearly all existing fair housing organizations.12 The funding notice would concentrate $46 million of $56 million in fiscal 2025 funds into five grants, versus the 100-plus typically awarded. More than 100 nonprofits, which handle roughly three in four housing discrimination complaints, could lose funding.

Why it matters: Owners should not read the funding fight as reduced fair housing exposure. The law is unchanged, and state enforcement and private litigation can fill gaps left by federal grantees.

Rent collection, not rent limits, drives affordable housing revenue

Affordable housing operators collected an average of 88.6% of scheduled rent nationally as of May, ranging from 96.8% in Miami to 70.9% in Washington, D.C., according to a Yardi Matrix analysis.13 States with direct nonpayment processes collected the most, while jurisdictions with longer procedural protections collected less. The analysis argues collections determine how much scheduled revenue actually reaches operating income.

Why it matters: Local landlord-tenant process shapes realized revenue more than most underwriting assumes. Modeling collections separately from scheduled rents is becoming a standard discipline in regulated product.

Smaller elevators could unlock small apartment buildings, and Washington is the test

U.S. elevators cost at least three times more than those in Western Europe and East Asia, largely because code requires them to be about twice as large, a cost that keeps most small apartment buildings from including them.14 Washington State passed a law this year allowing buildings of up to six stories and 24 units to use smaller cabs, while Maine eased requirements and New York City is running a pilot. Industry groups and some disability advocates oppose the state-by-state approach.

Why it matters: Elevator cost quietly pushes infill projects to walk-ups or kills them. If smaller cabs pencil under Washington’s new law, three-to-six-story infill gets more feasible across the state.

Sources

  1. PubliCola, “On Narrow Vote, Council Gets Rid of Local Appeal Process that Delays Land Use Legislation,” July 29, 2026.
  2. KUOW, “Seattle City Council limits zoning appeals in bid to speed housing construction, despite concerns,” July 31, 2026.
  3. The Urbanist, “Seattle Council Reins In Growth Plan Appeals in Narrow Vote,” July 29, 2026.
  4. The Spokesman-Review, “Spokane council approves ‘right to cooling’ for tenants,” July 29, 2026.
  5. KREM, “Spokane City Council passes ‘Renter’s Right to Cooling’ Ordinance,” July 29, 2026.
  6. Multi-Housing News, “Pacific Urban Buys Seattle Community for $112M,” July 28, 2026.
  7. The Seattle Times, “WA renter, landlord agree to $725K settlement in wrongful eviction case,” July 30, 2026.
  8. The Sun, “Tiny home ban being challenged in US city to make housing more affordable,” Aug. 2, 2026.
  9. UW Tacoma, “UW Tacoma selects Maslow’s Campus Communities as development partner for on-campus student housing and dining project,” June 4, 2026.
  10. Multifamily Executive, “NMHC: Apartment Market Conditions Continue to Tighten,” July 27, 2026.
  11. The Associated Press, “Regulators propose overhaul to law governing how banks lend to low-and-middle income communities,” July 31, 2026.
  12. Multifamily Dive, “HUD funding changes spur lawsuit from fair housing groups,” July 28, 2026.
  13. Multi-Housing News, “National Affordable Housing Report – July 2026,” July 30, 2026.
  14. The Washington Post, “Why doesn’t the U.S. have small elevators like Europe and China?” Aug. 2, 2026.

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