City report: permits and job values up, multifamily pipeline driving housing gains

Steve McDonald presented quarterly Development Services data showing an uptick in construction job values and permit activity compared with recent years, driven notably by multifamily projects. He told the committee that year‑to‑date data indicate the city is on track for roughly another 1,000 residential units and that overall permits are about five percent above the four‑year average.

McDonald explained the difference between permits and certificates of occupancy (COs): large multifamily projects can remain permitted for long periods before reaching occupancy, which explains discrepancies between permit counts and COs in a given reporting window. “A certificate of occupancy is the most important thing because some permitted projects may never get there,” McDonald said.

During Q&A, council members asked whether the multifamily permit numbers reflected projects that ultimately failed or simply long construction cycles; staff said most large projects are active and likely to be completed. Staff also noted district‑level permit location data are available but would require staff time to extract and present.

The report covered related topics including inspections, housing‑in‑the‑pipeline metrics, and public and private job‑valuation shifts (public projects increased with new parks and levy funds). Staff previewed the Build Spokane workshop (Sept. 16) on code modernization and financial incentives and updated members on Opportunity Zone 2.0 submissions and an encampment resolution cleanup that removed about 3,200 pounds of litter in a focused operation.

No formal vote was taken on regulatory changes during the report; staff said more data and follow‑up analysis will be provided on request.