Seattle’s Tax Policies Are Killing Downtown
Seattle used to be a boom town. Not anymore. Empty office towers now dot parts of downtown. Rents are falling. Tenants are leaving. And local leaders keep doubling down on policies that chase employers away.
A recent CoStar analysis paints a grim picture. Office vacancies are rising faster in Seattle than almost anywhere else in the country. That’s a big deal for property values, workers who rely on downtown foot traffic, and city tax rolls.
Here’s what the report says, word for word: “Though the amount of space available to lease has leveled off latelydue to planned demolitions and conversions removing someproperties from the market, the region’s vacancy rate continues torise more quickly than that of the rest of the country,” the analysis found. “Seattle’s officevacancy rate stands at 17.3% and is projected to peak at 18.3% in 2026.”
Those numbers are concentrated downtown — in Belltown, Queen Anne and the central business district. Suburbs have held up a bit better, but that’s small consolation when the heart of your city is hollowing out.
Some local voices say conversions and demolitions will help. As the study put it, “The leveling off of availability signals a likely improvement in vacancy rates in the near future.” Maybe. But promises won’t refill leased space overnight.
City leaders want solutions. But some proposals would punish building owners for having empty floors. That’s the kind of policy that looks tough on paper and causes real damage in practice. Taxing vacancies won’t magically bring tenants back. It will just saddle property owners and push costs somewhere else — like rents or deferred maintenance.
The bigger issue is why businesses leave. High taxes, regulatory churn, public safety worries, and a costly business climate matter. Tech companies no longer need to cluster downtown the way they used to. Remote work gives them the freedom to pick friendlier cities.
Policy can fix this. Cut taxes. Cut red tape. Get serious on street-level quality and safety. Make it cheaper and easier to do business. Do that, and downtown can come back. Punishing owners won’t.
Watch the related clip and reactions here:
Nearly a THIRD of Seattle's office space is completely empty. But Seattle’s incoming mayor's solution is to tax building owners even MORE for the empty space. Not to get drugs or homeless camps off the streets, but to tax people who can’t fill their buildings because NO ONE wants… pic.twitter.com/99GjFrAHgn
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) March 18, 2026
Seattle’s future is still unwritten. But choices matter. If leaders want revival, they’ll stop taxing decline and start courting growth.