These are the Neighborhood Centers and Corridors around Capitol Hill as Seattle begins new debate on upzoning

View the interactive map showing “Centers and Corridors” rezoning proposals here

An example Lowrise 3 development from the city

Seattle is getting into the nitty gritty over state-mandated laws hoped to allow a greater range of housing types in more parts of the city. For the neighborhoods around Capitol Hill, the first steps of 2026 will focus on a core element of the new growth plan and the debate that will likely burn hottest for those opposed to change in the city: future growth in areas like Montlake, Madison Valley, Madison Park, and Madrona.

The city’s “Centers and Corridors” proposal (PDF) released Friday is the second in what officials say has grown into a four-phase process to increase building heights and density in more areas of the city and coordinate growth with investments in transit.

“This legislation builds on important zoning reform, updating the rules on what can be built and where, so we can create abundant and affordable housing,” Mayor Katie Wilson said in the announcement. “Seattle is a great city, and more and more people want to make it their home. We’ll keep advancing zoning changes and developing social housing, as we expand our housing and affordability options. And we are just getting started.”

The Wilson administration now finds itself carrying forward a comprehensive growth plan overhaul for the city started and shaped by Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office.

In her announcement, Wilson credited the “several years of collaboration between many City departments, the public, and City Council” for shaping the plan so far and called the next phase “an important step in addressing our housing shortage.” The new mayor has also made it clear she hopes to expand on the vision once the first update is complete.

It has been a long and winding road for Seattle’s new comprehensive plan including legal challenges to the planning that slowed down an already massively delayed process. Harrell’s initial 20-year plan proposal the council started with landed around a year later than planned.

Pressured by opposition from some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, the plan’s core areas have been downsized. CHS reported last summer on the city’s revisions that reduced nine of the city’s 30 proposed Neighborhood Centers.

CHS reported here as the first phase of legislation setting the framework for the 20-year growth plan update was finally wrapped up to end 2025 under District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth who has served as the Seattle City Council’s comprehensive growth plan chair.

The new Centers and Corridors legislation “updates zoning in new growth areas identified in the Comprehensive plan, including: 30 new Neighborhood Centers, new and expanded Urban Centers, and transit corridors,” the Wilson administration says.

“These changes will create new opportunities to add apartments and condos near transit, retail, services, and public amenities, helping meet citywide housing needs and improve housing choice and affordability across all neighborhoods.”

The updates will also bring new midrise height limits and streamlining of the development process for the rezoned areas, Publicola reports.

Neighborhood Centers Near Capitol Hill
The pink areas highlight where the original 2024 rezoning has been scaled back

• You can read more about the Centers and Corridors proposal here.
• An interactive map of the proposed rezones is here.

The second phase of comprehensive updates starting now will focus on the 30 proposed Neighborhood Centers including Montlake, Madison Valley, Madison Park, and Madrona in the Capitol Hill area.

The designation will “allow residential and mixed-use buildings up to six stories in the core and four and five-story residential buildings toward the edges,” according to one city summary.

Once the neighborhood framework is in place, future Neighborhood Centers like Roanoke Park could be in play.

Hopefully, Seattle has also sorted out the Squire Park “donut hole” by then.

The process’s third phase will focus on the city’s core Regional Centers where upzones and changes including areas with zoning for office, retail, and high-density residential towers. Capitol Hill’s densely populated areas around Broadway and Pike/Pine will be on the table later this year.

The fourth phase focused on transit corridors including areas near St. Mark’s and along MLK and 23rd Ave will apparently have to wait for 2027.

Meanwhile, even as the city is finally moving forward on shaping the second phase’s Centers and Corridors plan, some in the city are asking for a timeout and step back for Phase 1 to be undone. The Urbanist reports here on conservation groups joining the push for an environmental appeal against the new growth plan, a doomed filing likely to result only in further delay.

Capitol Hill and Central District Corridors

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