Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a strategy that promotes high density, mixed-use (residential and commercial) development centered around public transportation services. Focusing development in the vicinity of public transit increases potential ridership and fare revenue while also generating less traffic and household transportation costs for the new development. While TOD can improve access and mobility, it can also increase housing prices, which poses the risk of gentrification. As a result, some governments have turned to equitable TOD (ETOD) as a strategy to ensure a more inclusive environment around transit developments, and affordable housing is a key element in ETOD strategies. 

This is the tenth and final installment in Eno’s continuing series examining how metropolitan areas across the country are approaching TOD work, including how agencies coordinate across housing, land use, and transportation, what tools they use, and what constraints they encounter on affordable housing and transit policy. Interested in learning about other case studies? Visit Eno’s Affordable Housing and Transit case study series landing page to read through all ten case studies. 

This Week: Seattle 

Issues in Housing Affordability 

Seattle is grappling with a severe housing crisis, marked by skyrocketing home prices and rent hikes. Among ten selected metropolitan areas, Seattle ranks among the least affordable places to own a home, according to the National Association of Realtors affordability index. The index measures whether the typical family in each region earns enough income to qualify for a mortgage loan on a typical single-family home. An index above 100 signifies that a family earning the median income has more than enough income to qualify for a mortgage loan on a median-priced single-family home, assuming a 20 percent down payment. 

 Table 1. Housing Affordability Index 

On the rental side, the affordability challenge is just as persistent. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition Gap report, there are 43 affordable and available rental units per 100 households at or below 50 percent of the area median income. The report also notes that the region faces a shortage of around 143,000 rental units. Beyond affordability, King County identified a spatial mismatch: low-wage jobs are distributed throughout the county, while affordable housing is not. As a result, local housing policy increasingly emphasizes homes near transit, employment centers, and services. To add to the crisis, the King County 2025 Countywide Housing Needs Assessment found that nearly 17,000 people were experiencing homelessness in 2014, most of whom were unsheltered. 

Seattle has been responding to the housing crisis with a combination of zoning, preservation, and stabilization efforts. In 2025, the Seattle city council adopted the first phase of a middle housing legislation, and the city has updated legislation to allow for “centers and corridors” zoning that would add apartment and condominium capacity near transit, retail, services, and other amenities. The Office of Housing also announced funding awards supporting 2,116 affordable homes across 20 buildings, including new production, preservation, and stabilization of existing affordable properties. These efforts underscore the central challenge for ETOD in Seattle: adding housing, but also creating affordable housing, preserving existing affordable housing, and reducing displacement pressure in neighborhoods with high-capacity transit.  

TOD and ETOD Program 

Sound Transit, the region’s transit system, has been focusing on TOD and housing for over a decade. The agency adopted its first TOD policy in 2012 and updated the TOD strategic plan in 2014. In 2018, Sound Transit adopted an Equitable TOD policy, which made ETOD part of the agency’s planning, design, construction, and operation of the regional transit system, rather than treating development as a separate real estate function.  

Sound Transit defines its role broadly. During station planning and design, the agency looks for ways the surrounding neighborhood could change after transit is constructed, including opportunities for housing, office space, shops, or public space. Land used for construction can become TOD property after a project opens. The agency also works with communities, local governments, and developers to define site-specific goals and deliver projects that include affordable housing, market-rate housing, retail, communities, healthcare, and other services.  

The ETOD policy is explicit about why affordable housing is a part of the agency’s work. Sound Transit notes that expanding transit creates upward pressure on rents and home prices and contributes to displacement. Its ETOD program is intended to help mitigate those effects by creating affordable housing and community-serving uses near stations that all current and future residents benefit from transit investment. The ETOD policy applies to the entire Sound Transit system, extending beyond Seattle to neighboring areas. 

ETOD Policy’s Key Features 

The ETOD policy’s key features include: 

• Support housing development near transit, prioritizing affordability. 

• Engage communities early so that site goals reflect local needs. 

• Integrate land use planning with transit infrastructure, considering local comprehensive plans and the feasibility of redevelopment. 

• Create mixed-use neighborhoods that provide a range of housing types and commercial spaces and promote local economic development. 

• Reduce development uncertainty by clarifying the agency’s priorities. 

Sound Transit’s Community Development Office leads the agency’s TOD work. The team prepares and offers station-area properties for development, coordinates community engagement, works with development partners, aligns resources for affordable housing, and advises on policy issues that affect TOD. The team also focuses on integrated joint development and air rights development over Sound Transit’s properties.  

Two State Policies that Promote ETOD 

In 2015, the Washington state legislature adopted RCW 81.112.350, which enacted two state policies that have been especially important to ETOD in Seattle: the 80/80/80 surplus property policy and the revolving loan fund. The 80/80/80 policy dictates how Sound Transit disposes of surplus land that is suitable for housing. The revolving loan fund helps affordable housing developers acquire land near transit even when Sound Transit does not own a surplus site. 

80/80/80 policy 

According to the statute, Sound Transit must offer at least 80 percent of its surplus property that is suitable for housing to qualified entities for affordable housing. Qualified entities include local governments, housing authorities, and nonprofit developers. When a qualified entity receives property through the process, at least 80 percent of the housing units created on the property must be affordable to households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income.  

The policy does not mean that every Sound Transit TOD site will be fully affordable. But it prioritizes affordable housing first where housing is feasible. It also gives Sound Transit a legal basis to discount land, which can be important in markets where land costs make affordable housing less feasible. Sound Transit’s quarterly reports indicate that the agency is exceeding the law’s requirements. In its Q1 2026 report, the agency noted that 96 percent of property suitable for housing had been offered to qualified entities and that 100 percent of the units created by qualified entities on Sound Transit property were affordable housing.  

Revolving Loan Fund 

The 2015 state law also required Sound Transit to contribute $4 million annually for five years to a revolving loan fund in support of affordable housing related to TOD. Sound Transit’s ST3 program implemented this commitment as a $20 million contribution to the Washington State Housing Finance Commission’s Land Acquisition Program. The program provides low-cost loans that help eligible developers purchase land for affordable housing. Developers can purchase land at favorable interest rates as it becomes available on the market and then take the necessary time to assemble financing for construction. 

The revolving loan fund is important because in many station areas, the agency may not own land that is suitable for housing, or it may own property that is too small or needed for operations. The loan fund extends the ETOD strategy beyond agency-owned land by prioritizing land acquisition near transit, especially in station areas where Sound Transit has surplus property.  

The first project supported through the fund was selected in 2025. The Washington State Housing Finance Commission, with Sound Transit’s $20 million contribution, selected the Everett Station District Alliance to receive support for acquiring a 0.68-acre site near Everett station. The project is expected to create more than 80 affordable multifamily homes. The site is located near multiple transit lines, showing how the revolving fund can support ETOD in transit-rich places.  

TOD Program Accomplishments 

As of Sound Transit’s Q1 2026 quarterly report, the TOD pipeline included 3,869 total homes, of which, 2,874 were affordable. The pipeline includes completed projects, projects in construction, awarded projects, and sites still being defined for future solicitations.  

The accomplishments are most visible in individual projects. Cedar Crossing at Roosevelt Station opened in 2022 with more than 250 affordable homes, an early learning center, and street-level retail. Connection Angle Lake has delivered 130 affordable homes at or below 60 percent of the area median income near Angle Lake station. Rainier Valley Affordable Homeownership is using 10 sites transferred at no cost to the city of Seattle to create 100 to 150 affordable homes for purchase. At Kent Des Moines station, Kent Multicultural Village began construction in March 2026 and is expected to provide 233 affordable homes, an early learning center, office space, and neighborhood retail. On the Eastside, more than 550 affordable homes are under construction near Spring District station in Bellevue and Overlake Village station in Redmond on discounted Sound Transit Land.  

Key Lessons

Clear legal and policy direction 

The 80/80/80 policy and Sound Transit’s ETOD policy give the agency a clear mandate to prioritize affordable housing on suitable surplus property. That clarification helps the agency move from general support for TOD to a replicable process with community goals, statutory requirements, and agency decisions aligned around the same outcomes.  

Partnerships 

Sound Transit’s land is only part of the ETOD equation. Projects in the pipeline rely on city/county funding, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, state resources, and nonprofit development capacity. The revolving loan fund expands the partnership model by helping developers secure land before construction funding is ready.  

Considering community benefits 

When Sound Transit issues an RFP it does not just evaluate proposals based on the number of affordable units that will be built. Prior to issuing RFPs, agency staff engage with the community to learn about local needs and desires. Proposals are judged, in part, by the benefits that are provided such as provisions for ground floor commercial and community-serving space, units that accommodate families, green building certifications, contributions to passenger experience, and bicycle parking. 

Discounting Land 

Affordable housing often cannot compete for land at market prices, particularly near-high capacity transit. Sound Transit’s ability to discount land for qualified entities helps close feasibility gaps and allows other funding sources to support deeper affordability, family-sized homes, and community space rather than being consumed by land costs alone.  

ETOD is one piece of the puzzle 

Affordable housing near transit can mitigate displacement pressure and improve access to jobs, schools, and services. But Seattle and King County’s housing needs are much larger than the Sound Transit surplus portfolio. ETOD works best as one component of a broader development and housing strategy that also includes zoning reform, housing preservation and stabilization, and homelessness response.