If you and your kids have hiked in Discovery Park on Seattle’s Magnolia bluff, you’ve likely walked past the old Fort Lawton Army Reserve Center that abuts the park. Imagine living there as a family with a low income, a literal stone’s throw away from Discovery’s miles of walking trails, woods, beaches, and pristine views of Puget Sound.
If Mayor Bruce Harrell’s 2025 One Seattle Comprehensive Plan for the city is approved by the Seattle City Council, you may not have to imagine for much longer.
In a recent State of the City address, Harrell outlined his proposal to build 500 new homes for low-income families and expand the park by 22 acres. City leaders have been trying to develop low-income housing at Fort Lawton for years, but neighbors have pushed back, delaying plans with lawsuits.
Harrell took the project a step further this year, by getting federal approval for the housing and park development before President Donald Trump took office.
“I’m excited to share that last month, before President Biden and HUD Secretary Todman left office, a significant portion of the City of Seattle’s application for the 2025 Fort Lawton Redevelopment Plan was approved,” Harrell said. “While there are still steps ahead of us, this is perhaps the most substantial development in fifteen years.”
Harrell expects to send the plan to the Seattle City Council for approval by spring 2025. The project is part of Harrell’s larger push for more affordable housing throughout the city. He said that, along with the Fort Lawton residences, the One Seattle plan would create 115,000 new homes.
“This is the most ambitious, comprehensive plan update in our city’s history,” Harrell said. “It is also the most necessary.”
The proposal would build 500 homes for low-income families and expand the park by 22 acres. (Image: Joe Mabel / Wikimedia Commons)
If approved by the City Council, Harrell said the plan would go miles toward “ensuring Seattle is a great place for families and creating livable neighborhoods.
“Seattle is a city of neighborhoods – they are unique and deserve to stay that way, even as we welcome new residents and create opportunities for our kids today to continue to call Seattle home,” Harrell added.
Harrell isn’t alone in looking for solutions to unaffordable rents and the high cost of housing. In Olympia, where the state legislature is in session, a bill to cap yearly rent increases at 7 percent in any 12-month period has jumped over a major hurdle. The Senate Housing Committee approved the measure, which failed last year. But the cap proposal still has a ways to go to become the law
Along with much-needed housing, Harrell stressed that in addition to new homes at Fort Lawton, the plan would create more open space next to Discovery Park while broadening the park’s recreation, parkland, and wildlife conservation area.
The Mayor’s One Seattle Comprehensive Plan covers a broad range of city growth and development initiatives, from creating more affordable housing to speeding up when West Seattle and Ballard will see light rail in their neighborhoods and build city arts and cultural supports. Check out the entire plan on the city’s website.
