Blog
Seattle Metro construction and development insights.
How to Look Up Building Permits in Seattle
How to search Seattle's permit portal and why older permits don't appear in results. BuildVue shows every permit at an address in one place.
Ways to Track Construction Projects in the Seattle Metro Area
Five real ways to follow construction across Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and the rest of the metro area, compared honestly on what each one covers and costs. BuildVue is the one that watches every city at once and tells you when something changes.
New Apartments Opening in Seattle
The apartment buildings that opened in Seattle this year and the ones scheduled next. BuildVue emails you when a building you follow opens.
What's Being Built in Bellevue
The apartment, mixed use and commercial projects moving through Bellevue, with named developments, their permit stage and where the activity clusters by neighborhood.
What's Being Built in Kirkland
What is under way in Kirkland today, a recently tracked city where the neighborhood level detail is not published yet. BuildVue lists every Kirkland project it holds and adds detail as the city records fill in.
What's Being Built in Federal Way
What is being built in Federal Way as of July 2026, most of it commercial filings along Pacific Highway South and in the West Campus Office Park.
What's Being Built in Ballard
The largest development projects in Ballard, including which ones are cleared to start construction.
What's Being Built in Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill's biggest tracked project reaches only five stories because it spans a 2.27 acre site, and most of the neighborhood's largest projects are still waiting on an issued construction permit.
What's Being Built in the University District
Two University District apartment towers are approved for more than twenty stories but still lack an issued construction permit, while two nearby office buildings have already opened.
Seattle Construction Trends at Mid Year
Seattle development activity through the first half of 2026, by neighborhood and project type, drawn from BuildVue's live pages.
What's Being Built in Redmond
The projects under construction and in review across Redmond, with addresses and permit stages. BuildVue adds every new Redmond filing to the map.
What's Being Built in Tacoma
Named apartment buildings, a school and a hospital permit inside Tacoma's active pipeline, with addresses and permit stage current to late July 2026.
What's Being Built in Everett
The waterfront Millwright District project and the rest of Everett's active pipeline, with addresses and permit stage as tracked by BuildVue in late July 2026.
What's Being Built in Renton
Renton's tracked pipeline as of July 2026, including two large former school sites and a cluster of land use filings in Renton Highlands.
How to Look Up Building Permits in Everett
How to search Everett's eTRAKiT permit system and when it requires an account. BuildVue lists every permit at an Everett address on one page.
How to Look Up Building Permits in Tacoma
How to find a permit record in Tacoma's Accela system and what each status means. BuildVue covers Tacoma and 43 other cities in one search.
How to Look Up Building Permits in Bellevue
Bellevue shares its permit portal with a dozen other jurisdictions, so this covers how MyBuildingPermit searches work and what each status means. BuildVue already covers every city on that portal and several that are not on it.
Seattle's Largest Active Construction Projects in 2026
The biggest developments genuinely under construction in Seattle in 2026, ranked by the value on their issued permit, plus the large ones still waiting to break ground.
What's Being Built in Fremont Seattle in 2026
The apartment and mixed use projects underway in Fremont in 2026.
Seattle Construction Recap: June 2026
Seattle development in June 2026, with the groundbreakings, the openings and the filings that cleared land use review, all tracked on BuildVue as they happened.
Seattle Construction Recap: May 2026
What the May 2026 permit record shows in Seattle, covering what broke ground, what opened and what cleared review.
Seattle Impact Fees and What Builders Pay Instead
Seattle charges no transportation or school impact fees, so this sets out what developers pay instead, from Mandatory Housing Affordability to SDCI permit fees and utility connection charges.
The Seattle MFTE Program Explained
How the Multifamily Tax Exemption works in Seattle, what the tax break gives the building owner and what the rent restricted homes give renters.
Seattle Construction Recap: March 2026
What moved in Seattle development during March 2026, from the projects that broke ground to the ones that finally opened.
What Is a Master Use Permit in Seattle?
What a master use permit covers in Seattle, when a project needs one, and how it relates to the construction permit that follows.
How to Read a Seattle Permit Record
What every field on a Seattle permit record actually means, from the status codes to the valuation and the dates, and which of them tell you whether work has really started.
SEPA Review in Seattle: What It Is and Why It Delays Projects
What SEPA review is, which projects trigger it, and why it can add months to a Seattle timeline, with the determinations tracked on each BuildVue project record.
How Seattle's FAR and Lot Coverage Rules Work
How floor area ratio and lot coverage limits decide how much building fits on a Seattle lot, and what that means for multifamily feasibility.
Seattle Construction Costs: What It Costs to Build Per Square Foot in 2026
What it costs to build per square foot in Seattle in 2026 for multifamily, mixed use and commercial work, drawn from permit valuations and industry benchmarks.
Seattle Demolition Permits: What's Coming Down and What's Going Up
How to track demolition permits in Seattle and read them as the earliest sign of what is coming next on a site, with each one linked to the development that follows it on BuildVue.
The 10 Biggest Projects Under Construction in Seattle Right Now
The ten largest projects under construction in Seattle this year, ranked by construction value. Each one's full permit history is on BuildVue.
Which Seattle Neighborhoods Added the Most Multi-Family and Mixed-Use Units in 2025?
Which Seattle neighborhoods actually delivered the most multifamily and mixed use homes in 2025, counted from completed permits.
How Long Seattle Projects Actually Take: From Permit to Completion
How long Seattle projects take from first application to completion. Every project on BuildVue lists the dates behind its timeline.
Seattle's Tallest Buildings in the Pipeline
The tallest residential and mixed use towers in the Seattle pipeline, ranked by stories, with each one's current permit stage.
How to Track Building Permits in Seattle: A Complete Guide
Three ways to follow Seattle permit activity over time. BuildVue emails you when a permit you follow changes status.
Understanding Seattle's Design Review Process
How the Seattle Design Review Board works, what happens at Early Design Guidance and at Recommendation, and when the public can weigh in.
Seattle Building Permit Timeline: How Long Does It Really Take?
How long a Seattle building permit takes by project type and what slows applications down. BuildVue emails you when a permit you follow changes stage.
Seattle Construction Trends in 2026: What's Being Built and Where
Where Seattle construction is concentrated in 2026, by neighborhood, project type, and value. BuildVue shows today's totals for each.
Seattle's Apartment Pipeline: Multi-Family and Mixed-Use Projects in 2026
How many apartments are under construction or in review in Seattle, by neighborhood and scale. The current counts are on BuildVue's neighborhood pages.
Who's Building Seattle? Top Developers and Architects by Project Count
The developers and architecture firms with the most projects in the Seattle pipeline, counted from permit records. On BuildVue each firm has a page listing everything else it has filed.
What the One Seattle Plan Means for Developers: A Practical Guide
What the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan and the 2026 zoning changes mean for project feasibility, including the new Neighborhood Centers and the expanded Urban Centers.
How Much a Seattle Building Permit Costs
How SDCI turns construction value into a permit fee, what plan review adds on top, and worked examples for a townhouse building and a large apartment building.
Seattle Zoning Explained: What You Can Build and Where
A plain English guide to Seattle zoning, covering what the designations mean, how tall you can build and how much density each one allows.
Seattle Construction Recap: February 2026
Which Seattle projects broke ground in February 2026, which ones opened, and which new applications landed at the city.
How to Find Out What Is Being Built Near You in Seattle
Four practical ways to find out what is going up at an address in Seattle, starting with the notice on the fence and working through the city permit records and the comment period. The fourth is a map lookup on BuildVue.
Seattle Construction Recap: January 2026
The Seattle projects that broke ground in January 2026, the buildings that opened, and the applications that won their land use approval.