ERES 2026 Policy Panel: Building 1.1 Million Homes Starts with Systemic Change

Bellevue Chamber Staff  |  April 2, 2026

Washington state needs to build 1.1 million homes over the next 20 years, and the first panel at the 2026 Eastside Real Estate Symposium examined the policies, technologies, and partnerships working to close that gap. Moderated by land use attorney Ian Morrison of McCullough Hill, the panel brought together Senator Jessica Bateman, Bellevue Code & Policy Director Nick Whipple, and Govstream.ai founder Saf Rabah.

STATE HOUSING STRATEGY

Senator Bateman, chair of the Senate Housing Committee, described a shift in legislative focus from addressing the symptoms of housing scarcity toward tackling root supply constraints. Washington currently builds about 35,000 homes per year against a target of 55,000, and the shortage grows by tens of thousands of units annually. Her approach centers on a single question applied to every piece of housing legislation: Does this increase supply?

"We have 280 cities in Washington ... We cannot afford to have this case by case process unfold. We need systemic change." — Senator Jessica Bateman, 22nd Legislative District

Bateman drew on her own experience as an Olympia councilmember in addition to her time in the WA State House of Representatives, where legalizing middle housing required three years, 44 public meetings, and 1,200 pages of written comment for a city of 55,000 residents. That experience ultimately drove her landmark HB 1110, which mandated middle housing statewide while preserving local flexibility by letting cities choose six of nine housing types to legalize.

BELLEVUE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

Director Nick Whipple outlined Bellevue's focus on customer-centered process improvement over the past three to five years, as the department now surveys permit applicants at multiple stages, from submission through inspection, and uses that feedback to target specific pain points. The Bellevue Development Committee also now meets quarterly with developers to collaborate on code amendments and streamlining efforts, and the department adopted a five-year strategic plan with a new vision: Building the Best Bellevue Together.

"The city doesn't build anything. We really do rely on our partners in the private sector to deliver the high-quality built environment that we all enjoy." — Nick Whipple, POLICY & CODE Director, City of Bellevue Development Services

AI & PERMITTING

Govstream.ai founder Saf Rabah described the startup's partnership with Bellevue to reduce bottlenecks in the permitting process, as the company's tools help applicants understand requirements before they submit, surfacing issues like environmental constraints or missing reports earlier in the process. On the City side, an AI assistant trained on the Bellevue code handles public information inquiries that currently consume an estimated 20,000 staff hours annually, freeing review staff to focus on permit work.

"The last 15 or so years have been spent digitizing everything, so now it's a portal. You talk to a portal, and we all know the portal doesn't talk back." — Saf Rabah, Co-founder and CEO, GovStream.AI

Rabah emphasized that deploying AI in government requires a higher bar for transparency and accountability than the private sector, since every output must be auditable and traceable, with no room for black-box decision making on consequential permitting questions.

Check out the full video from our 2026 Eastside Real Estate Symposium here!

"Any idea that we're coming forward with to create a solution: If it's not bold, it's not enough." — Senator Jessica Bateman