Seattle Broker Urges Mayor to Track 18,000 Job Losses as Downtown Vacancy Hits 34.9%
Updated
Updated · seattlered.com · Oct 5
Seattle Broker Urges Mayor to Track 18,000 Job Losses as Downtown Vacancy Hits 34.9%
3 articles · Updated · seattlered.com · Oct 5
Summary
Jeff Reynolds, a Seattle real estate advisor with 24 years downtown, urged Mayor Katie Wilson and the City Council to publish quarterly metrics and explain how they will reverse downtown’s economic slide.
More than 18,000 Seattle jobs disappeared from 2024 to 2025, with downtown accounting for about 70% of the drop; downtown employment remains roughly 22% below 2019 levels while Bellevue added 5,375 jobs.
Kidder Mathews data put downtown office vacancy at 34.9% versus 23.2% in Bellevue, and Redfin said downtown median sale prices fell 15.9% year over year; Reynolds said he sold one condo for less than its 2012 price.
Reynolds said clients are already leaving the city, citing Starbucks’ planned $100 million Nashville office with up to 2,000 jobs and a business owner who moved to Tennessee because he felt unsupported.
Wilson, who took office in January, later softened comments dismissing concerns about wealthy residents leaving over Washington’s new 9.9% income tax, but Reynolds said the city now needs public targets on jobs, permits and office vacancies.