Housing in Washington state is expensive. Now, Gov. Bob Ferguson wants to ease rules to bring costs down. The result could mean fewer ground floor businesses in new apartment buildings.

When developers build apartments in pedestrian-heavy areas, many cities require restaurants or retail on the ground floor. The idea is to encourage people to walk, rather than drive, to shop and dine.

But developers often lose money on those storefronts, and those costs get passed on to renters through higher housing prices.