Trestle Could Pause After Shoring as Seattle Weighs an MHA Fee Cut

In July 2026, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported that Eastlake Real Estate Partners planned to begin excavation and shoring on Trestle, its 70-unit building at 4529 Sand Point Way NE, next to Seattle Children’s Hospital. The firm would then wait for Seattle to decide whether to reduce Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) fees before pulling its second permit.

MHA lets developers build taller or larger buildings in exchange for paying a fee toward affordable housing or including affordable units on site. Trestle’s fee would be about $850,000. Founder and managing partner Mike Yukevich put the total project cost at about $33 million, or roughly $700 per square foot. He said the firm would decide how to proceed once excavation and shoring were done in November, and that without fee relief the project would still be feasible but “on the edge.”

The fee weighs more heavily on the firm’s planned eight-story, 83-unit building at 2727 Boylston Ave. E. in Eastlake, where MHA would cost $1.4 million. That project had just received design review approval, but Yukevich said it did not yet pencil out. He estimated that dropping the fee would add 0.3% to its return on costs, where the firm is targeting about 6%, and said the firm would look for a co-general partner, preferably based in Washington.

The article traced the city debate. A deal negotiated with the Housing Development Consortium would have cut the fee by 80% for two years, and it fell apart in early July when the consortium withdrew its support. Councilmember Eddie Lin said MHA reform legislation could arrive early the next year. More about the firm is on the investors page.

This is our summary. The full article by Akielly Hu appeared in Puget Sound Business Journal on July 23, 2026.