Maritime industry stakeholders in Seattle this week again voiced fierce opposition to approval by the City Council of a controversial plan for residential development near the port and downtown industrial district.
Bill 120933, approved Tuesday by a 6-3 vote at a packed meeting of the council, would permit construction of 990 apartments in the Sodo neighborhood of the city’s Industrial District near T-Mobile Park, home of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners. Supporters see it as a way to provide much-needed housing and establish a base for artisan manufacturing in an area that has been the site of increasing violence.
But opponents say the plan would bring residential development to the port’s doorstep, followed by complaints by residents over noise and activity that would eventually chip away at the area’s industry. They also say development will interfere with vital freight mobility.
“There are thousands of drivers that service the Seattle port and railroads every week, many that are here locally and depend on the fluidity of our heavy haul corridors and surrounding streets,” said Curt Nuccitelli, president and owner of Spirit Transport Systems, in a LinkedIn post.
They also say the vote undermines a 2023 compromise agreement between the port and City Council that protects maritime and other business interests while allowing limited residential development without rezoning.
At the time, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office told the council it could revisit the proposal, according to local reports. That effort was led by Council President Sara Nelson.
“The Port of Seattle is disappointed in the Seattle City Council’s decision to move forward rushed legislation that will directly harm our city’s maritime and industrial operations, threaten thousands of union jobs, and negatively impact our region’s economic competitiveness in trade,” the port said in a statement posted to its website. “It pushes us down a slippery slope of encroachment on industrial lands. This is a loss for the public who will pay in the future with resources, missed opportunities, and heartache.”
The property south of the baseball stadium is owned by billionaire hedge fund executive Chris Hansen, who wanted to construct a basketball arena in an effort to bring an NBA team back to Seattle.
“Today’s biggest winner is an out-of-state billionaire developer, who more than a decade ago made a bet that he could buy industrial land on the cheap and get the city council to add millions to his property value just by changing the zoning,” the statement went on. “Sodo needs to be a destination for the maritime and clean energy economy, not condos. We need to execute on competing for trade and activating the clean energy transformation. We are not done fighting for that long-term vision for Seattle.”
In a February letter to the council, the port and the Northwest Seaport Alliance, which includes Washington’s Port of Tacoma, said the project could violate certain environmental review laws. The alliance said it is still considering its legal options.
The alliance handled approximately 438,000 twenty-foot equivalent units in 2024, part of a total $70 billion in annual trade that includes breakbulk, vehicles and bulk cargo.
Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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