Tacoma zoning changes adopted in late 2024 replaced the city’s old single-family residential zones with three Urban Residential zones that allow several homes on nearly every residential lot, cut parking requirements sharply and opened the door to small apartment buildings in neighborhoods that previously allowed only houses. For owners of existing apartment buildings, the practical effect is a steady trickle of new small-scale competition, a more flexible path to add units on their own land, and a regulatory backdrop that now also includes a statewide cap on rent increases.
Tacoma is the county seat of Pierce County and the largest city in the South Sound. According to Census QuickFacts for Tacoma, the city had an estimated 229,816 residents on July 1, 2025, up from 219,346 at the 2020 Census. About 55.8% of homes were owner-occupied and the median gross rent was $1,676 in the 2020–2024 American Community Survey. The changes below are shaping where the next wave of housing goes.
How the Tacoma zoning changes reached adoption
Home In Tacoma was the city’s multi-year effort to rethink residential zoning. Phase 1 set the policy direction. Phase 2 wrote the actual zones and standards. On November 20, 2024, the city announced that the City Council had unanimously approved the Home In Tacoma zoning and standards package, with the rules taking effect on February 1, 2025.
The city’s implementation notice cites Ordinance 28793 and describes three Urban Residential zones, labeled UR-1, UR-2 and UR-3, replacing the prior residential districts. Housing types now allowed include houseplexes, backyard cottages, rowhouses, courtyard housing and multiplexes.
To encourage early projects, the Council also ran a pre-development pilot offering permit fee credits from December 1, 2024 through January 31, 2025, so builders could prepare applications ahead of the effective date.
The three Urban Residential zones
The city’s Home In Tacoma FAQ from November 2024 summarized the baseline housing capacity of each zone:
- UR-1: up to four units per lot, low-scale.
- UR-2: up to six units per lot, low-scale.
- UR-3: up to eight units per lot, midscale, generally along corridors and near centers.
Those are baseline figures. The adopted standards also include bonuses and design rules, and the exact counts on a given parcel depend on lot size, the final code text in Tacoma Municipal Code Title 13 and site conditions. An owner considering a project should confirm the current code language for their specific parcel rather than relying on the summary figures.
What changed for parking
Parking minimums often decide whether a small infill project pencils. Under the FAQ, minimums dropped from two spaces per unit to:
- One space per unit in UR-1.
- 0.75 spaces per unit in UR-2.
- 0.5 spaces per unit in UR-3.
- No required parking within half a mile walking distance of major transit.
The adopted package also created reduced-parking areas along key corridors. For owners of older apartment buildings with surplus surface parking, this can make part of a lot developable for the first time.
A worked example on an existing apartment lot
Consider a hypothetical 1960s walk-up with 10 units and 20 surface parking spaces on a lot now mapped UR-2. Under the old standard of two spaces per unit, every space was spoken for. Under the FAQ’s 0.75-space ratio, the same 10 units need only about eight spaces, which frees roughly a dozen stalls of land. If the lot sits within half a mile of a T Line station, the parking minimum may disappear altogether. Whether that freed area can hold a new fourplex or a pair of cottages depends on lot coverage, setbacks, height and the code’s site-specific rules, but the starting question for an owner has changed from whether anything can be added to how much.
State laws stacking on top of local zoning
Tacoma’s zoning did not happen in isolation. Washington’s Legislature has passed a series of housing laws that apply to cities of Tacoma’s size and in some cases go further than the local code.
Middle housing and ADUs
House Bill 1110, passed in 2023, requires cities with populations of 75,000 or more to allow at least four units per lot on residential land, and six units per lot within a quarter mile walk of a major transit stop or where two units are affordable. It also bars parking requirements within half a mile of a major transit stop. The UR zones are Tacoma’s local framework for meeting those requirements.
House Bill 1337, also from 2023 and effective July 23, 2023, requires cities in urban growth areas to allow at least two accessory dwelling units per lot and prohibits requiring the owner to live on site.
Transit-oriented development
House Bill 1491, effective July 27, 2025, sets minimum densities around high-capacity transit. Station areas cover half a mile around rail stations and a quarter mile around bus rapid transit stops. Within them, cities must allow a minimum average floor-area ratio of 3.5 near rail and 2.5 near bus rapid transit, cannot require residential parking, and must apply affordability set-asides that last 50 years. According to MRSC’s summary of 2025 planning legislation, cities in Pierce County must adopt station-area rules by December 2029 and must offer the multifamily tax exemption in all station areas.
Statewide parking limits
Senate Bill 5184, also from 2025, applies to jurisdictions of 30,000 or more. It caps parking requirements at 0.5 spaces per multifamily unit, one per single-family home and two per 1,000 square feet of commercial space, and bars requirements for changes of use, homes under 1,200 square feet, commercial spaces under 3,000 square feet, and affordable and senior housing. Cities of 50,000 or more, including Tacoma, must comply by January 27, 2027.
Why state law still matters after local adoption
State housing laws set floors rather than ceilings. Tacoma can allow more than HB 1110, HB 1337, HB 1491 or SB 5184 require, but it cannot fall below them, and future amendments to the local code have to respect those minimums. For owners, that means the direction of zoning in Tacoma is unlikely to reverse. A parcel that gained development rights in 2025 is likely to keep them, and parcels near transit are likely to gain more as station-area rules and the 2027 parking caps take effect. That durability is worth weighing when deciding whether to hold land, add units or price a sale.
The tax exemption that shapes new apartments
Tacoma’s Multifamily Property Tax Exemption, authorized under RCW 84.14, is one of the most important drivers of where mid-size apartment buildings get built. According to the city’s housing tax incentives page, the program exempts the value of the residential improvements from property tax for eight, 12 or 20 years for projects of at least four new units in a Residential Target Area:
- The eight-year option requires no affordable units, but it is not available in every target area.
- The 12-year option requires 20% of units to be affordable at or below 70% of Pierce County area median income.
- The 20-year option requires 25% of units to be permanently affordable.
The city expanded the program on March 14, 2022. For an existing building owner, the important point is that a new building across the street may be paying property tax only on its land for a decade or more. That gives new construction an operating-cost advantage, and it is one reason older buildings compete on rent level rather than amenities.
Where the growth is planned
The City Council adopted the One Tacoma 2025 Comprehensive Plan update on June 24, 2025. According to the city’s comprehensive plan page, the plan is built to accommodate 60,000 new housing units and 94,000 new jobs by 2050. The Puget Sound Regional Council certified the plan as accommodating 42,865 new housing units and 70,000 new jobs by 2044, consistent with Pierce County’s countywide targets.
Set against the 94,531 housing units Tacoma had at the end of 2023, the 2050 figure would mean planning room for roughly 63% more homes than exist today, and the 2044 certification figure about 45% more. Those are capacity figures, not forecasts of what will be built, but they tell owners where the city expects density to rise: around regional and neighborhood centers, along transit corridors and in the downtown subareas.
Transit timelines matter
Sound Transit’s Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension opened on September 16, 2023, adding 2.4 miles and seven stations to the T Line, including Stadium District, Tacoma General and Hilltop District. That extension already puts parts of Hilltop and the Stadium District inside the half-mile radius that triggers reduced parking under state law.
The larger regional link is further out. Sound Transit’s Tacoma Dome Link Extension timeline shows planning through 2027, construction from 2029 to 2035 and service beginning in 2035. When it arrives, station areas along the extension, including the Tacoma Dome, will fall under the transit-oriented density rules in HB 1491.
How much has actually been built so far
Early evidence suggests the zoning change is producing incremental, not dramatic, results. An analysis by The Urbanist in September 2025, using the city’s open data portal, compared January to August 2025 with the same months of 2024:
- Total permit applications rose from 188 to 243.
- Potential units in residential permits, which capture small middle-housing projects, rose from 181 to 304.
- Potential units in commercial permits, which capture larger apartment buildings, fell from 1,657 to 1,259.
- Tacoma had 94,531 housing units at the end of 2023, so even the higher figures represent a small share of the existing stock.
In percentage terms, potential units in residential permits rose about 68%, while potential units in commercial permits fell about 24%. The pattern fits what many cities see after middle-housing reform: more small projects by local builders, while larger apartment projects respond mainly to interest rates, construction costs and tax-exemption availability.
Rent stabilization and existing buildings
Zoning is not the only rule change that matters. House Bill 1217, signed and effective May 7, 2025, created statewide rent stabilization codified at RCW 59.18.700 and following sections. According to the Washington Department of Commerce’s HB 1217 landlord resource center:
- Annual rent increases are capped at 7% plus CPI or 10%, whichever is lower.
- No increase is allowed during the first 12 months of a tenancy.
- Landlords must give 90 days’ notice of an increase.
- Most provisions expire on July 1, 2040.
Commerce set the cap at 9.683% for 2026. For 2027, CPI rose enough that the 10% ceiling applies. Law firm summaries of the statute note that buildings within 12 years of their first certificate of occupancy are exempt, which means new construction can reset rents freely during its early years while older buildings cannot.
What the cap looks like in dollars
Applied to Tacoma’s ACS median gross rent of $1,676, the 2026 cap of 9.683% allows an increase of up to about $162 a month, to roughly $1,838. The 10% ceiling in 2027 would allow up to about $168 on the same base. Those are maximums, not targets; in practice, competition from new buildings, concessions and turnover costs usually keep renewals well below the cap. What the cap removes is the option of a large one-time correction, such as a building bought below market that an owner hoped to bring up in a single renewal cycle. With about 44% of Tacoma households renting, based on the 55.8% owner-occupancy rate, the rule touches a large part of the city’s housing.
For a side-by-side look at how other states handle rent limits and property taxes, see our state-by-state rent control and property tax guide.
Key dates for Tacoma owners to track
- July 23, 2023: HB 1337 takes effect, requiring cities to allow at least two ADUs per lot.
- September 16, 2023: the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension opens with seven new stations.
- November 20, 2024: City Council approves the Home In Tacoma zoning package.
- February 1, 2025: the three Urban Residential zones take effect.
- May 7, 2025: HB 1217 rent stabilization takes effect statewide.
- June 24, 2025: Council adopts the One Tacoma 2025 Comprehensive Plan update.
- July 27, 2025: HB 1491 transit-oriented development rules take effect.
- January 27, 2027: deadline for Tacoma to comply with the SB 5184 parking caps.
- December 2029: deadline for Pierce County cities to adopt HB 1491 station-area rules.
- 2035: planned start of Tacoma Dome Link Extension service.
What this means for Tacoma apartment owners
The combined effect of Tacoma zoning changes and state law creates both pressures and options for existing owners:
- Expect more small competitors. Fourplexes, sixplexes and backyard cottages are likely to appear in neighborhoods that previously had few or none, usually with newer finishes than older walk-ups.
- Look at your own lot. Surplus parking or side yards on an existing apartment property may now support additional units, especially in UR-3 areas or near the T Line.
- Factor in the tax gap. New buildings using the multifamily tax exemption carry lower property tax for eight to 20 years, which affects how aggressively they can price.
- Model rents under the cap. For buildings older than 12 years, annual increases are limited, so long-term underwriting should not assume above-cap growth even in tight years.
- Track transit milestones. Properties within half a mile of T Line stations today, and of future Tacoma Dome Link stations, sit where the state’s density and parking rules apply most strongly.
- Read the parcel-level code. The summary figures in city materials are a starting point; the final Title 13 standards govern what can be built.
For owners weighing whether to add units, refinance or step back, local context is available on our Tacoma market page and statewide coverage on the Washington markets page.
Tacoma has made it far easier to add homes on the land it already has. For existing apartment owners, the result is a slower, steadier form of new supply than a wave of towers would bring, paired with a statewide rent cap that rewards careful long-term planning more than short-term rent pushes.
