Seattle Construction Recap: May 2026

May belonged to Fremont Avenue North. Two of the three buildings that broke ground sat on the same street, part of a corridor that keeps turning up in Seattle's permit record. The rest of the month filled in around it, with four openings and two sizable land use approvals.

Projects that broke ground

The three May starts add 223 homes between them.

The largest is 4401 Fremont Ave N, a five story, 145 home building with an issued permit worth about $11 million. It is one of several active Fremont Avenue sites we track in what is being built in Fremont. Roughly two miles north, 8635 Fremont Ave N puts another 70 homes on the same corridor in Greenwood. The third start, 3600 Courtland Pl S in Mount Baker, is a small infill building of eight homes.

Buildings that opened

Four residential buildings received a certificate of occupancy in May, together adding about 140 homes.

The biggest is 2335 Boylston Ave E, a six story, 71 home building in Eastlake. Behind it, 1901 N 45th St adds 40 homes in Wallingford and 5819 Phinney Ave N adds 25 in Phinney Ridge. A mid rise building takes two to three years to construct, so these openings reflect permits pulled well before this year.

Projects that cleared land use review

Two projects had their master use permit issued in May, the approval that lets them move toward a construction permit. Together they carry 293 homes.

The larger, 123 Boylston Ave E, is an eight story, 160 home building in South Lake Union. The second, 3622 Woodland Park Ave N, adds 133 homes and keeps Fremont near the top of the pipeline for a third straight month.

New projects filed

Five new development applications were filed in May. Two of them are 4746 16th Ave NE in Ravenna at 38 homes and 2815 16th Ave S in the International District at 27 homes, with the rest in Downtown, Georgetown, and Greenwood. None will break ground for a year or more.

How this recap is built

The numbers come from dated permit events. Groundbreakings are development construction permits issued in May, openings are certificate of occupancy or final dates for residential buildings, and land use approvals are master use permits issued that month. Projects are counted once each, not per permit, and late records can still arrive after the fact.

The series runs one recap per completed month. To check any project's current stage, open BuildVue's map or its neighborhood page.