Seattle growing at an ‘unprecedented’ rate

What the Downtown Seattle Association calls an “unprecedented” level of development is setting historic records as the city continues to grow.

As of this month there are 65 buildings under construction in downtown. It is more than at any time since the association began tracking in 2005.

“Downtown continues to see unprecedented levels of development,” a report from the Association says. “While hotels and office developments have seen resurgence recently, residential development continues to dominate.”

About two-thirds of buildings under construction are residential, according to the Association. That includes 708 units already completed this year, with another 8,661 scheduled for completion through 2017. Almost 7,000 of those units are under construction, with about 1,000 in pre-construction stages.

The Association uses the boundaries of South Lake Union to South Lander Street in SoDo, and Elliott Bay and Broadway for its analysis.

And residential units aren’t the only hot developments. Office space is also rebounding, with more than 5.3 million square feet of new office space under construction and 3 million square feet completed over the past 18 months. Amazon can be thanked for a 2-million chunk of that, with more than 2 million square feet of office space under construction in its ever-expanding campus.

Finally, hotel development is picking up, with 1,471 rooms scheduled for completing in 2017 and 1,468 in 2018.

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