Mayor Bruce Harrell Unveils Details of his Downtown Activation Plan

Reporting by Cesar Canizales

On Wednesday, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell unveiled details of the Downtown Activation Plan he announced in April. The plan aims to bring people back to downtown, which has seen a steep decline in visitors since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We want to make downtown a top destination for Seattleites and visitors all around. Right now, Seattle is one of the fastest growing cities. We want people to come here. We want people to live here. We want people to create here,” Harrell said. 

The mayor also wants to transform office buildings into residential ones by waiving or modifying development standards to streamline the transition. And he is proposing rezoning parts of downtown to allow for taller residential buildings in the area. He also spoke on the importance of the Liberty Project, which he announced earlier this month. That project aims to help Black and Brown-owned businesses.

Laron Daniels is co-owner of Self-Made Couture, located just around the corner from where the mayor made the announcement. He stressed the importance of investing in minority-owned businesses. 

“I want you guys to invest in us. In return, we’ll water you guys back. We'll invest back in. You guys will inspire other entrepreneurs and upcoming business owners and bring them up with us as well. And furthermore, we'll reinvest back into the next generation of people that are coming up. If we invest into the next generation, then that's going to allow Seattle to reach its fullest potential,” said Daniels.

You can watch the video above for more.