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PLUSH Committee Urges City Council to Fix Downtown's Most-Departed Code Provisions
PLUSH Committee Urges City Council to Fix Downtown's Most-Departed Code Provisions

The Bellevue Chamber's PLUSH Committee submitted recommendations to City Council on May 4, identifying five frequently departed code provisions as barriers and requesting targeted amendments as part of Downtown Livability 2.0. Continue Reading

Date posted05/4/2026


PLUSH Recap: MFTE Cap Pushback, Permit Progress, and Downtown Livability 2.0
PLUSH Recap: MFTE Cap Pushback, Permit Progress, and Downtown Livability 2.0

Inside the April PLUSH Committee meeting: opposing the proposed 1,500-unit cap on Bellevue's MFTE catalyst program ahead of the May 5 Council study session, permit timeliness up from 72 to 83 percent in Q1 2026, and the Bel-Red zoning overlay's public-versus-private street debate. Continue Reading

Date posted04/28/2026


PLUSH Committee Urges Bellevue Planning Commission to Simplify Bel-Red Street Grid
PLUSH Committee Urges Bellevue Planning Commission to Simplify Bel-Red Street Grid

The Bellevue Chamber's Permitting, Land Use, and Sustainable Housing (PLUSH) Committee submitted formal comments to the Bellevue Planning Commission ahead of the Commission's April 23 work session on the Bel-Red Subarea Code Update. Continue Reading

Date posted04/22/2026


ERES 2026 Market Overview: Eastside Vacancy Drops as Office Demand Surges
ERES 2026 Market Overview: Eastside Vacancy Drops as Office Demand Surges

The 2026 Eastside Real Estate Symposium opened with Amazon Public Policy Director Guy Palumbo and CBRE Senior Vice President Bryan Oliver on the forces reshaping the region's housing and office markets. Continue Reading

Date posted04/3/2026


ERES 2026 Policy Panel: Building 1.1 Million Homes Starts with Systemic Change
ERES 2026 Policy Panel: Building 1.1 Million Homes Starts with Systemic Change

Washington needs 1.1 million homes over 20 years and currently falls short by tens of thousands annually. The ERES policy panel brought together Senator Jessica Bateman on systemic housing reform, Bellevue Director Nick Whipple on development services improvements and GovStream AI, and Saf Rabah Continue Reading

Date posted04/3/2026


ERES 2026 Wilburton Panel: 2,300 Housing Units and Counting
ERES 2026 Wilburton Panel: 2,300 Housing Units and Counting

Since the Wilburton rezone passed in June 2025, developers have submitted applications for over 2,300 housing units in the 300-acre neighborhood. The ERES panel examined the code buildability strategies, MFTE Supercharger, and East Rail infrastructure that made Wilburton a model Continue Reading

Date posted04/3/2026


ERES 2026 Keynote: Economist Andrew Samwick on What's Ahead
ERES 2026 Keynote: Economist Andrew Samwick on What's Ahead

Dartmouth economist Andrew Samwick closed ERES 2026 with a keynote on federal fiscal headwinds, AI's real employment impact, and the structural advantages positioning the Eastside for continued growth. Continue Reading

Date posted04/3/2026


PLUSH Recap: Sign Code, Housing Wins, & MFTE
PLUSH Recap: Sign Code, Housing Wins, & MFTE

Bellevue's first full sign code rewrite in decades took center stage at the March meeting of the Planning, Land Use, Sustainability, and Housing (PLUSH) committee, alongside a hard-won victory on the city's Affordable Housing Strategy and a continued push on Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) reform Continue Reading

Date posted03/24/2026


PLUSH Supports Bellevue’s Affordable Housing Strategy and Urges Feasibility-Focused Refinements
PLUSH Supports Bellevue’s Affordable Housing Strategy and Urges Feasibility-Focused Refinements

The Bellevue Chamber’s PLUSH Committee recently submitted a letter in support of the City’s draft Affordable Housing Strategy, while also encouraging several important refinements. Continue Reading

Date posted03/23/2026


PLUSH Committee Calls for a Flexible Path to Housing Affordability in Bellevue
PLUSH Committee Calls for a Flexible Path to Housing Affordability in Bellevue

In a March 16 letter to the Bellevue City Council, the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce’s PLUSH Committee urges leaders to pair housing affordability goals with policies that keep new multifamily development feasible. Continue Reading

Date posted03/16/2026


City briefs PLUSH on affordable housing strategy update: Priorities, preservation, & next steps
City briefs PLUSH on affordable housing strategy update: Priorities, preservation, & next steps

On Tuesday, February 17, City of Bellevue housing staff briefed the Chamber’s Permitting, Land Use, Sustainability, and Housing (PLUSH) committee on the City’s draft Affordable Housing Strategy update and key takeaways from recent Council discussion. Continue Reading

Date posted02/17/2026


Housing strategy front & center in PLUSH Committee letter to Council
Housing strategy front & center in PLUSH Committee letter to Council

The Bellevue Chamber’s PLUSH Committee recently submitted the following letter to the Bellevue City Council ahead of its February 3 meeting. Take a look below! Continue Reading

Date posted02/2/2026