A LEGACY OF BUILDING IN THE PUGET SOUND

Bellevue-based BDR Companies provides investment, development, and home construction in the Puget Sound area. With highly respected backgrounds in the residential development community, BDR executives have been recognized with major industry awards, including national Gold Nugget Awards for building excellence, Builder of the Year (twice), more than 100 industry-wide MAME Awards, and numerous Built Green recognitions.

Todd Bennett is the founder and president of BDR Companies. Prior to that, he was a principal in Bennett Homes for 30 years. In his current role, Todd puts together developer partnerships for BDR’s residential building projects. “Our partnerships mostly build homes. We have two groups: BDR Homes for homes priced under two million and BDR Fine Homes for homes priced over two million.”

MORE THAN 20 YEARS IN THE MBA HEALTH TRUST

Between Bennett Homes and BDR, Todd has been a member of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA) for 34 years (once serving as President) and the MBA Health Trust for 21 years. “MBA’s health insurance is a big benefit for us,” says Todd. “We’ve used the Trust from the beginning. All of our employees are on our plan now. We’ve always been able to provide good coverage for them. And it’s affordable for us.”

SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS

The MBA Health Trust has provided Todd and his companies with consistently lower premiums. “We’ve looked at other health insurance providers, but we’ve never been able to get the same combination of cost savings plus benefits,” he says. “The MBA plan has consistently been 10-15 percent less cost, even with the big increases in health insurance premiums since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”

REGENCE BLUESHIELD “KEEPS IT SIMPLE”

Regence BlueShield is the MBA Health Trust’s insurance partner, and Todd has had good experiences with them over the years. “The Regence plan is flexible. So far, we haven’t had a hitch at all on who we can use and what’s covered—even with large medical issues. Regence has covered most everything so far and kept it simple.”

MBA MEMBER BENEFITS ALSO INCLUDE BUILDER ADVOCACY

In addition to the MBA Health Trust, Todd’s long membership in the MBA has helped his business in other ways. Todd says the MBA has a very strong government relations group. “A great benefit to MBA membership is the advocacy role the MBA plays,” he says. “We get a common voice in the industry. Local municipalities listen to the MBA. That’s a primary benefit from a builder standpoint. The MBA gives the builders more of a collective voice. It’s very powerful. The MBA has helped get code changes that benefit the home building industry adopted, for example.”

CITIES LISTEN, PROCESSES ARE EXPEDITED

Todd cites challenges with some cities and how the MBA interceded. “We were having slowdowns with building permits and the MBA got involved and arranged a meeting with city officials. This got the process moving forward quicker.”

By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

New data from the Puget Sound Regional Council show our four-county region (King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap counties) has added more than 464,000 jobs since 2010. That works out to over 2.75 jobs for every housing unit constructed during this period.

The Builder's Bulletin is intended to provide a convenient way to track housing in our market and includes information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, State of the Cities Data Systems, Office of Financial Management and the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Download this month's report:

A recent Construction Coverage study finds that the median home age in Seattle is 37 years old, built around the late 1980s. That's older than every fast-growing metro we compete with for workers and families: Austin (19), Raleigh (22), Charlotte (26), Phoenix (29), Denver (35), Salt Lake City (35). Meanwhile, Seattle's population grew 25% from 2010 to 2020. More people, fewer new homes per person, and older housing stock every year. Old housing isn't just expensive to maintain — it's housing we can't add to, and every year the gap between what we have and what we need widens.

A Fox 13 story covering the study tells us what's happening. It doesn't get into why — or what to do. So, let's tackle both.

Why are Seattle's homes older than homes in fast-growing peer cities?

It isn't geography or demand. Austin builds in a tough climate. Phoenix keeps building despite water problems. The difference is what we've allowed to be built.

Seattle has stacked decades of choices that made it harder, slower, and more expensive to build:

• Zoning that locked the map in place. Most of Seattle's residential land has been reserved for one detached house per lot. You can't refresh the housing stock that way.
• Permits that take longer than projects can wait. An 18-to-36-month permit timeline means projects get shelved when interest rates move. Slow permits are a downzone.
• Fees stacked on fees. Impact fees, affordability charges, and review fees pile up. Every $1,000 added to the cost of a home prices more families out.
• Decisions made case by case. Design review, environmental appeals, and judgment calls add risk that builders price in or walk away from.
• Rules that make lots unbuildable. Tree codes, critical-area buffers, and undergrounding requirements can take a small infill project from possible to impossible.

This shows up in real bills. According to the Construction Coverage study's analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, pre-1940 homes cost about 10 times as much in routine maintenance as new ones — roughly $1,615 a year vs. $164 — and are nearly 30 times more likely to be in inadequate condition.

What can we do about it?

Aging housing is a policy outcome. It can be a different one.

MBAKS uses a simple test we call the Housing Policy Filter. Before adopting any code change, fee, or process, ask: does it reduce buildable land, add complexity or uncertainty, diminish property rights, or increase costs to construct?

If yes to any of those, fewer homes get built.

The Filter in practice:

• Put HB 1110 to work. The new middle-housing zoning lands faster when local rules are clear, approvals are by-right, and permit timelines are met.
• Trade judgment calls for clear rules. Predictable, objective standards produce more housing than case-by-case review.
• Speed up permits. Defined, predictable timelines and resources at the bottleneck keep projects moving.
• Right-size fees. Audit what each fee funds — and the homes it prevents.
• Fix the small-lot rules. Tune tree codes, setbacks, buffers, and road widths to the housing we need now.

Austin and Raleigh and Charlotte didn't end up with new housing stock by accident. Seattle didn't end up with old housing stock by accident, either. The difference is what each place chooses to allow.

More homes. Better outcomes. That's the test.

View the MBAKS Barriers and Solutions guide. Questions? policy@mbaks.com.