Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBKAS) has once again partnered with Gelotte Hommas Drivdahl Architecture (GHDA) to produce a project for Gingerbread Village—on display now through January 1, 2025 at the Sheraton Grand Seattle.

This year’s theme is Iconic Destinations. Our project is “Vive La Paris." The display showcases many recognizable Paris landmarks and offers a few special surprises you won’t want to miss.

Project lead Eric Drivdahl designed and constructed this year’s gingerbread project with help from his talented team at GHDA and a dedicated group of volunteers.

Special thanks to MBAKS’ Mike Pattison and Allison Butcher who contributed many hours to the project and Amber Snellgrove for crafting fondant characters for the display; Joe White of Corner 2 Corner Builders Llc for building the bases for our project; MBAKS 1^st Vice President Jennifer Tennyson for volunteering during the construction phase; and our Breakthrough T1D Elf Lina and her family for their help and support from developing the design to the reveal day ceremony.

Support Breakthrough T1D and Diabetes Research
While this event is free, a $5 donation is recommended, and all proceeds go to Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF). You can donate online by voting for your favorite project. Please vote for Paris, France/Elf Lina to help support this great cause.

Visiting Gingerbread Village
Add to your holiday fun list by visiting our project! Viewing hours are 9am to 9pm Sunday through Thursday, and 9am to 11pm Friday and Saturday between now and New Year’s Day.

Contact: data@mbaks.com

January 2026 Builders Bulletin: Building Permits Weakened in October

U.S. Census Bureau data released recently show continued decline in building permits for the Seattle metro area in the first 10 months of 2025. The latest Builders Bulletin reports 5,208 single-family permits were issued year to date in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties as of October 2025, down 8% compared to the same period in 2024. Multifamily permits saw an even steeper drop with 7,225 permits issued, representing a 17% decrease compared to 2024. Release of this data by the Census Bureau was delayed due to last year’s federal government shutdown.

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By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

Single family permits are down 10 percent in the Seattle metro area the first 9 months of the year, compared to the same period last year. The single family permit decline is led by Snohomish County, which is down 25 percent, followed by Pierce County, which is down 14 percent. Within the three-county metro area, the only county to see a slight increase in single family permits through September 2018 was King County, where permits were up four percent.

Meanwhile, multifamily permits are up three percent throughout the metro area. While King County saw a nine percent decline in multifamily permits during the first three quarters of 2018, Snohomish County has experienced an 80 percent increase in multifamily permit activity, and Pierce County is up 35 percent.

The Builders' Bulletin is intended to provide a convenient way to track housing in our market and includes information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, State of the Cities Data Systems, Office of Financial Management and the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Download this month's report: