Why the Rent Is Too Damn High

$918M 472 taxable vacant commercial parcels in Seattle — 105 acres of land zoned for active use, assessed at $1,000 or less in improvements, sitting empty.

$1,000 The assessor's model finds no value in whatever stands on these parcels beyond a token $1,000 — the same figure appears on a surface parking lot, a James Beard award-winning restaurant, and a philanthropic campus whose improvements peaked at more than $400 million.

3,412 Taxable vacant parcels — residential and commercial — representing 700 acres and nearly $2 billion in Seattle land sitting idle, each assessed at $1,000 or less in improvements.

What will $1,000 buy in Seattle? You might be surprised. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation campus, a James Beard award-winning restaurant, and a downtown surface parking lot share something in common: the assessor's model finds no value in whatever stands on them beyond a token $1,000. Meanwhile two houses on the same Lake Washington street carry tax bills thousands of dollars apart — and well over $1,000 — with the larger lot assessed at the lower value. The assessor is required to treat all property uniformly and at true and fair market value. That doesn't always happen. This book follows the thread.