Belltown Zoning

Belltown is zoned mostly Downtown Mixed Residential (DMR), the downtown designation that emphasizes housing — which is why one of Seattle’s densest neighborhoods is a wall of residential highrises rather than office towers, with Downtown Mixed Commercial (DMC) along its eastern and southern edges. As across the rest of downtown, the rules regulate height and floor area rather than capping the number of homes.

Belltown has no light rail station of its own, but it is well served by buses — including RapidRide lines on the 3rd Ave transit spine — and the Seattle Center Monorail crosses it on the way to Westlake Station, the busiest stop in the Link system, about a ten-minute walk away. The neighborhood runs from the edge of the downtown retail core down to the Elliott Bay waterfront.

See It on the Map

Open the interactive map centered on Belltownto see every parcel's zoning, click for allowed uses and nearby permits, and toggle transit and bike layers. New to zone codes? Start with the guide to Seattle zoning.