Incentive Zoning Program

What Is It?

The Incentive Zoning (IZ) program is a voluntary program in which developers provide specific amenities in exchange for extra floor area or height beyond the base amount allowed for their building by the Land Use Code. In addition to the development standards in the zone, SMC 23.58A outlines the available amenity options and the conditions which a development may gain extra floor area. The amenities, or developer contributions, is a payment or other benefit provided as part of the proposed project.

To achieve extra floor area, a developer must provide or pay for one or more of the following public amenities as specified by the standards of the zone:

• Affordable housing
• Child care
• Open spaces
• Transferable Development Potential and Rights (TDP/TDR)
• Regional Development Credits (RDC)

Incentive Zoning Payment Adjustments

The Land Use Code (SMC.58A) requires annual adjustments to the dollar per square foot amount for housing and childcare incentive zoning developer contributions. The Land Use Code directs us to use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to make these adjustments on March 1 of each year based on the annual average changes to the CPI. 

The dollar amounts depend on whether the extra floor area is residential or nonresidential, and the date your project vested to the Land Use Code (SMC 23.76). The tables below show the CPI adjusted amounts from 2024 and present and are broken out by the type of use. 

The tables below show the CPI adjusted amounts including the initial dollar amounts adopted in the code and the present amounts. For previous year’s amounts please see the Historic IZ payment amounts. 

Table A: Residential Extra Floor Area Payment Amounts with CPI Adjustments (Dollar per Square Foot)

Table B: Nonresidential Extra Floor Area Payment Amounts with CPI Adjustments (Dollar per Square Foot) 

Relationship with Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA)

When a project is subject to both IZ and Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA), the MHA program requirements satisfy the affordable housing requirement for the IZ program. Required developer contributions to child care, open space amenities, TDP/TDR and RDC must still be provided.

Reporting

Incentive Zoning Summary Reports: These reports show projects with an issued permit participating in the IZ program. The report for the current year is updated monthly. You can also access annual reports from previous years of the IZ program. The reports include the total amount of extra floor area provided for the project and the amenities contributed by the developer to achieve the extra floor area.

• IZ Summary Report "So Far" for 2026
• IZ Annual Summary Report for 2025
• IZ Annual Summary Report for 2024
• IZ Annual Summary Report for 2023
• IZ Annual Summary Report for 2022
• IZ Annual Summary Report for 2021 and prior

Office of Housing Annual Report: You can find this report, and other information on housing by visiting the Office of Housing website.

Read the Code

Read the Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) section IZ provisions, SMC 23.58A.

Resources:

• Read Tip 258, Developer Contributions - Incentive Zoning for additional information
• See Historical Incentive Zoning payment amounts
• Research specific records through our Seattle Services Portal
• Learn about Privately Owned Public Spaces

Questions

All questions related to Land Use Code requirements and extra / bonus floor area calculations should be directed to the zoning reviewer assigned to the project. If the site has not been assigned a zoning reviewer, direct your inquiries to our Ask Us A Question tool or call us at 1 (206) 684-8600" title="tel: +1 (206) 684-8600">(206) 684-8600.

Proposed Changes

For proposed changes to land use regulations, see our Changes to Code page and the Office of Planning and Community Development's Ongoing Initiatives list.