First Hill Zoning

First Hill — long nicknamed “Pill Hill” — is anchored by three major medical institutions: Swedish, Virginia Mason, and Harborview at its northern edge. Each grows under a Major Institution Overlay (Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 23.69) that governs how its campus can expand. Between the hospitals, the base zoning is Multifamily Highrise (HR) — one of the few places outside downtown where residential towers are allowed — with Midrise and Neighborhood Commercial filling in along the edges.

The First Hill Streetcar runs through the neighborhood, built as Sound Transit’s substitute after a planned Link station here was dropped over the cost and risk of mining one so deep; it links Capitol Hill to Pioneer Square and the Chinatown-International District. In the One Seattle Plan, First Hill is grouped with Capitol Hill as a single designated regional center planned for continued density.

See It on the Map

Open the interactive map centered on First Hillto 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.