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“Essential housing” is a framing proposed by Jon Hall, Principal at GGLO—not an official housing category or building-code term. In his August 21, 2023 opinion article for Building Design + Construction, Hall argues that the phrase can make affordable housing relevant to a broader share of a community: teachers, baristas, firefighters, nurses, people at risk of homelessness and anyone whose local housing costs are out of reach. His central point is that stable homes are infrastructure for a healthy, safe and economically functioning community, not a handout that someone else must solve.
What “essential housing” means
Hall uses “essential housing” as a deliberate change in emphasis. “Affordable housing” is often heard as a program for a narrowly defined group, while “essential” describes a condition every community needs in order to operate. The phrase is his proposed framing, not a definition established by statute, zoning code or a national housing standard.
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Under Hall’s framing, a community depends on housing that ordinary workers and vulnerable residents can actually secure and keep. A school cannot retain teachers, a hospital cannot staff nurses, and a town cannot maintain emergency services if people who perform those jobs are priced out. The same housing system also affects residents already facing eviction or homelessness. Treating these as connected needs broadens the conversation from charity to civic capacity.
“It’s time to stop thinking of affordable housing as a handout which is someone else’s problem to solve and start calling it what it is: Essential Housing, a crucial component of a thriving local community.”
That wording should be attributed to Hall when used in policy, planning or public communications. It should not be presented as though “essential housing” is an official designation.
Why the name matters
It connects housing to the whole workforce
Rising rents and strong demand do not affect only households traditionally identified as low income. Hall points to teachers, baristas, firefighters and nurses as examples of workers who may be essential to daily life yet unable to find stable housing near their jobs. A project described only as assistance for “someone else” can therefore appear remote to residents who are themselves making difficult trade-offs over rent, commuting and family stability.
Calling housing essential changes the question from “Who deserves help?” to “What housing supply does this community need to function?” That shift can support broader participation in planning, while still preserving targeted programs for people with the greatest need.
It treats housing as community infrastructure
Hall describes housing as a collective endeavor. Homes sit alongside transportation, schools, utilities and health services as systems that determine whether a place can thrive. The label encourages elected officials, developers, designers, service providers, employers and residents to see housing capacity as a shared responsibility rather than a problem assigned to one agency.
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It links shelter with health and safety
Stable housing influences whether people can follow medical advice, keep appointments, store medication safely and maintain routines. Hall uses a healthcare lens to make that connection and cites Providence Joseph House in south Seattle as an example of a healthcare company directing resources toward housing. His article does not independently evaluate the project’s outcomes; the example illustrates the kind of cross-sector investment he is advocating.
Hall makes a similar argument through public safety. When people lack a safe place to live, emergency systems, hospitals, outreach teams and police may be asked to respond to crises that a stable home and appropriate support could help prevent. Housing does not replace health or safety services, but Hall argues that it is one of the conditions that allows those services to work effectively.
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Examples of an essential-housing approach
Healthcare-linked housing
Providence Joseph House, as described by Hall, represents a healthcare organization applying resources to housing rather than treating housing instability as separate from health. The lesson is organizational: a hospital or health system can view housing as part of the environment affecting patients and neighbors. Any community considering a similar model would still need to establish its own eligibility rules, service partnerships, financing and measures of success.
Housing with support services
Through a faith-based lens, Hall points to organizations that combine homes and support. He cites Cocoon House in Snohomish County and describes a 40-unit development with services for at-risk youth on the site of a former church. The article presents the project as an example of using an existing community asset for both housing and care; it does not provide an independent evaluation of outcomes or establish that the same model is suitable for every site.
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The design implication is important: supportive housing is not simply a number of units. Operators, case managers, residents and neighbors need to be involved early enough for the building, services, privacy, security and shared spaces to work together.
Strategies Hall says communities should consider
Hall argues that traditional development alone will not produce enough homes and that solutions must reflect local conditions. He names several approaches, but his article does not compare their costs, delivery times, operating performance or feasibility. The table below therefore identifies the intended use and the questions a project team must answer, rather than ranking one approach above another.
| Approach | What Hall proposes | Questions a local team must test | Comparative results in Hall’s article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modular or manufactured housing | Use complete units or componentized kits to speed production. | Can the site accept the units, transportation route, foundations, utilities and required inspections? How will financing, maintenance and replacement be handled? | Not stated; no cost, schedule or performance comparison is provided. |
| Rezoning and densification | Allow more homes in appropriate areas and use land more efficiently. | What zoning, design, parking, infrastructure, shadow, traffic and neighborhood-fit constraints apply? | Not stated; no measured yield or approval-time comparison is provided. |
| Housing on retail sites | Redevelop or add housing at shopping centers and other retail locations. | Can housing share access, utilities, loading, parking and public space with existing or future retail? What happens if the retail tenant mix changes? | Not stated; Seattle’s Northgate Mall and Lynnwood’s Alderwood Mall are named as examples, not evaluated results. |
| Office-to-residential conversion | Reuse vacant offices as homes where the building and market make conversion practical. | Do floor plates, windows, plumbing stacks, elevators, fire separation, accessibility, seismic systems and financing support residential use? | Not stated; GGLO’s Alloy at Midtown in Phoenix is cited as an example, not as a performance study. |
Modular and manufactured construction
Factory-built approaches can include whole modules, panelized sections or smaller component kits. Hall’s point is about production capacity and speed: moving some work into a controlled manufacturing environment may help communities deliver more units than site-built methods alone. That is not a guarantee. Transportation limits, crane access, foundations, weatherization, local inspections, financing and long-term maintenance still determine whether a particular site works.
Rezoning and densification
More homes can sometimes be accommodated by changing allowable uses, height, setbacks or unit counts. Densification may place residents closer to jobs, transit and existing utilities, but it can also expose gaps in sewer capacity, schools, streets, parks or emergency access. An “essential housing” process should pair the zoning decision with an infrastructure and service plan rather than assume that additional floor area automatically produces attainable homes.
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Adding homes to retail sites
Hall names Seattle’s Northgate Mall and Lynnwood’s Alderwood Mall when discussing housing on retail land. Retail parcels can offer large footprints and established access, yet they bring complicated ownership, phasing and operations questions. A plan must separate construction activity from customer circulation, protect loading and fire routes, and decide how residents will reach transit and daily services. The examples in Hall’s article are historical references from 2023; current project status should be checked with the relevant owner or jurisdiction before being described as ongoing.
Converting vacant offices
Office conversion can reuse a building that no longer has enough commercial demand. Residential layouts usually require adequate daylight, ventilation, plumbing distribution, fire protection, acoustic separation and accessible entries. Floor plates designed for offices may be too deep, while older mechanical and electrical systems may require major replacement. Hall cites GGLO’s Alloy at Midtown in Phoenix to illustrate the idea, but supplies no general conversion rate, cost benchmark or evidence that every vacant office is suitable.
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Hall’s process recommendation is inclusive and community-centered. The practical sequence below turns that principle into decisions a jurisdiction or development team can document.
- Define the local need. Identify who is being priced out, where jobs and services are located, how many homes different household types require, and which residents face the greatest risk of displacement or homelessness. Do not substitute Hall’s historical figures for a current needs assessment.
- Set a shared outcome. Decide whether the immediate objective is preserving existing homes, adding rental supply, creating supportive housing, shortening commutes, stabilizing a workforce or combining several goals. State how affordability and long-term operating support will be maintained.
- Bring the full delivery team in early. Include designers, builders, operators, future users, service providers, utilities, transportation staff and the responsible jurisdiction before a preferred building type is selected. Early involvement can reveal code, maintenance and service constraints that are expensive to fix later.
- Match the strategy to the site. Test modular, manufactured, infill, retail-site and office-conversion options against parcel dimensions, ownership, access, utilities, environmental conditions, zoning and neighborhood context. A familiar solution is not automatically the right one.
- Protect health and safety while accelerating approvals. Hall calls for innovation and speed in permitting and jurisdictional processes, but explicitly keeps public health and safety as requirements. Faster review should come from coordinated information, predictable standards and parallel work—not from waiving life-safety, accessibility or habitability protections.
- Design the operating model. Confirm who manages the property, funds repairs, delivers support services, handles security and engages residents. For supportive or youth housing, service capacity must be sized with the units rather than added as an afterthought.
- Measure results and adjust. Track occupancy, housing stability, resident health and safety indicators, service access, maintenance, neighborhood impacts and the public cost of delay. Publish the measures and time period so later decisions are based on observed performance rather than labels alone.
What the Seattle figures do—and do not—establish
Hall writes that Seattle needs “tens of thousands of new affordable units per year” to keep pace with population growth and reports that city officials expected the city to reach one million people by 2044. Those figures are quotations or attributions within his 2023 opinion article, not independently verified current forecasts. The article does not identify the underlying estimate or name the officials.
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Use those numbers as evidence of the scale Hall believed the challenge represented in 2023, not as a current housing-needs target. A policy, bond measure or project feasibility study should cite the latest official population forecast and housing-needs assessment for the relevant geography.
Limits of the “essential” label
The phrase can broaden support, but a new name does not create units, funding or operating capacity. A project still needs land, approvals, infrastructure, qualified builders, financing and a durable affordability mechanism. Calling a development essential also does not settle who qualifies, how rents are set, whether ownership or rental housing is appropriate, or how residents will be protected from displacement.
There is a second risk: broad language can blur important differences among workforce housing, deeply affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, emergency shelter and market-rate homes. A clear plan should use “essential housing” as an explanatory frame while retaining precise program categories, eligibility rules and performance standards.
A practical communication checklist
- State that “essential housing” is a proposed framing associated with Jon Hall, not an official policy or code category.
- Name the residents and workers the project is intended to serve, including any income, age, disability or service requirements.
- Explain the local evidence and date behind the need estimate.
- Describe the chosen construction or land-use strategy and the alternatives considered.
- Identify the operator, support-service partners, funding sources and long-term maintenance responsibilities.
- Publish the health, safety, affordability and neighborhood measures that will be monitored.
- Separate historical examples—such as Northgate Mall, Alderwood Mall, Providence Joseph House, Cocoon House and Alloy at Midtown—from current project status unless it has been rechecked.
The bottom line
Hall’s argument is that housing is essential because communities cannot sustain health, safety, services or a workforce without stable homes. The useful part of the term is its invitation to treat housing as shared civic infrastructure. Its limits are equally important: it is not an official category, it does not prove that one construction method will work everywhere, and the 2023 examples and figures require current verification before they guide a policy or investment decision.
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