As Seattle's newly elected Socialist Mayor, Katie Wilson, prepares to assume her role, she faces a daunting economic landscape characterized by dwindling tax revenues, rising commercial vacancies, and a surge in restaurant and retail closures.
Her proposed agenda, which includes initiatives for "progressive revenue," is already encountering resistance from local businesses and economic leaders who caution against exacerbating an already fragile economic environment.
According to The Post Millennial, Wilson reaffirmed her commitment to pursuing new "progressive revenue" sources during her acceptance speech last week. Her advocacy for taxing high-earning corporations, particularly through the JumpStart payroll tax, has garnered her support among progressive factions.
However, it has also raised concerns among business leaders, especially following Amazon's departure from Seattle in response to the tax. Instead of addressing these business sector concerns, Wilson chose to join local baristas in protesting Starbucks immediately after her victory speech. The coffee giant has shuttered several Seattle locations in recent years, including a bustling store near the iconic Pike Place Market, a key tourist destination.
The city's downtown core continues to grapple with business closures. Skillet, a beloved local brand known for its comfort-food diners, announced the closure of multiple locations. Similarly, Pablo Y Pablo plans to shutter one of its restaurants, while Pike Brewing will close its long-standing Pike Pub and the adjacent Pike Fish Bar. These closures follow the recent shutdown of Capitol Hill's Mamnoon and its sister restaurant MBar in South Lake Union, as well as the closure of two Starbucks Roasteries, once considered major attractions.
Greg Patrillo, who manages Skillet, attributed the company's downsizing to rising operational costs. "Higher minimum wages, food prices, inflation, and the inability to keep raising menu prices" rendered the business model unsustainable, he explained. Patrillo noted that each price increase leads to a drop in customer demand, creating a cycle that many restaurants struggle to survive.
"This is a city where everything costs more," remarked Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes to KOMO News. "We have some of the most expensive housing, we have some of the most expensive food, we have some of the most expensive Ubers, and we should be looking at the set of regulations and taxes that have been put in place over the last decade. Are those helping things? Are they making this city more affordable or not?"
Scholes highlighted Amazon's recent decision to cut 2,400 Seattle jobs and relocate additional roles to Bellevue as evidence of the city's tax structure potentially hastening a shift away from its former status as a tech hub. "Its not a myth anymore," he stated. "Jobs are crossing the lake."
Seattle's commercial real estate market reflects this trend, with the office vacancy rate soaring above 33 percent, a significant increase from roughly 8 percent before the pandemic, as reported by Colliers. The absence of new office construction downtown, coupled with high vacancy rates, further underscores the challenges facing the city.
Meanwhile, foot traffic in the retail core remains sluggish, hampered by empty storefronts and reduced in-person work, hindering economic recovery efforts.
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