Fort Lawton Redevelopment

Fort Lawton is a former military base that will become part of Discovery Park. It’s being redeveloped into a community with affordable housing and open space.

Fort Lawton is a unique and strategic site that offers Seattle an opportunity to tackle its housing crisis by creating affordable housing in one of the city’s most desirable and high-opportunity areas, Magnolia. This location is known for its high-performing schools, safe streets, and access to parks, making it especially valuable for families and individuals who want to thrive in a supportive environment. The goal is to create a diverse community offering affordable housing, parks, and support services, all contributing to a vibrant living environment. The redevelopment plan includes affordable rentals, supportive housing for seniors and veterans, and homeownership opportunities. Partnering with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, this development will place residents in a neighborhood where they can access opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach. 

It’s not all that different. The housing developments are similar to typical Office of Housing projects. The difference is that the land has extremely old infrastructure put in by the US Army in the 1920s. While the infrastructure for any development usually requires upgrades, the infrastructure at Fort Lawton just needs more investment than our other developments.

Magnolia provides residents with access to high-quality schools, recreational spaces, and community resources, which makes this location a high-opportunity area. Building housing here integrates families and individuals into an environment where they can benefit from better resources and opportunities, allowing them to prosper in ways that might not be possible in other parts of the city. Magnolia has well-regarded schools and a branch of the Seattle Public Library, making it a family-friendly area.  

Far from being isolated, the neighborhood offers critical amenities and a high quality of life that supports growth and resilience. Magnolia has an active community center, an outdoor pool complex, and a thriving farmers market, providing connectivity and fun, along with nutritious local food for people. Fort Lawton also has eight grocery stores less than 3 miles from its location, at varying levels of affordability.  

Under the federal government’s Base Realignment and Closure process, the Fort Lawton property is available at a significantly discounted land cost for dedicated use as affordable housing or parks. These two uses have been the City’s vision for the property dating back to 2006. Today, Seattle faces an even greater need for affordable housing and open spaces. More people are facing homelessness because they can’t find affordable homes. Also, as more people live here, there is an increased need for spaces to relax and play but new land for parks and housing is typically very expensive. Fort Lawton is a special chance to help meet both these needs together. 

It is true that Fort Lawton requires infrastructure upgrades as the systems date back to its military-use era. These upgrades, estimated at $60 million, are both necessary and cost-effective when considering the site’s unique advantages. The land would be acquired from the federal government at a fraction of its market value, costing an estimated $16 million. This financial advantage allows the City to invest in preparing the site while keeping overall costs manageable. By increasing the housing numbers from 237 to up to 500 units, the infrastructure cost per home drops significantly. 

Transportation improvements and future investments will further enhance connectivity for Fort Lawton residents. Sound Transit’s current plan for light rail expansion into Ballard will include an Interbay stop. The planning and design priorities for this stop are to:  

• Upgrade and complete bike connections along W Dravus St and routes connecting to Elliott Bay and Ship Canal Trails.  
• Prioritize pedestrian, bike, and bus transfer access along W Dravus St while accommodating vehicular traffic.
• Provide a well-integrated multi-modal system that prioritizes bus transfers and pedestrians and cyclists.
• Preserve vehicle access for transit and freight along 15th Ave W.
• Consider how ongoing future development in the station area can support additional open space opportunities and vibrant street-front uses.  
• Encourage equitable transit-oriented development near the station consistent with existing zoning. 

Seattle is repurposing vacant buildings and hotels elsewhere in the city where it is applicable. While reuse of vacant buildings is a viable strategy in certain cases, Fort Lawton offers benefits unmatched by urban infill opportunities, further helping to reduce sprawl and support sustainable development, per Washington State’s Growth Management Act. The site provides a greater capacity for family-sized housing and a mix of varied housing options that could not realistically be achieved through conversions. Vacant hotels, for instance, typically accommodate fewer residents and do not meet the needs of families in the same way that Fort Lawton’s planned development will.

The delay was due to the need for thorough research and infrastructure planning to ensure the development's success. We saw the cost needed to make the infrastructure work for what we envisioned, so we made sure to increase the number of homes. This way, we could distribute the cost across more units, which makes the cost per unit much lower.

The Fort Lawton project advances Seattle’s goal of creating thriving communities in high-opportunity neighborhoods. It combines affordable housing with preserved green space to ensure public benefits for recreation, education, and economic mobility. By developing housing in a well-resourced area like Magnolia, we are ensuring that the residents have every chance to succeed in a supportive and opportunity-rich environment. Fort Lawton is not simply a redevelopment project; it is a step toward creating a city where everyone can benefit from living in a high-quality neighborhood.