Summary

King County Executive Dow Constantine today thanked the Metropolitan King County Council for unanimously approving his proposal for night and weekend use of a County-owned parking garage to replace existing parking in the long-awaited North Lot development next to CenturyLink Field. The development is key to revitalization of Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood.

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Executive’s innovative solution to replace North Lot parking approved by Council

Use of available space in Metro employee garage on nights and weekends enables mixed-use development to revitalize Pioneer Square

King County Executive Dow Constantine today thanked the Metropolitan King County Council for unanimously approving his proposal for night and weekend use of a County-owned parking garage to replace existing parking in the long-awaited North Lot development next to CenturyLink Field. The development is key to revitalization of Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood.

“We created an innovative solution that uses available parking spaces at a county-owned garage to double the County’s return on the North Lot property,” said Executive Constantine. “Metro gets $10.2 million that can be used to maintain bus service, and we avoid putting another parking garage on valuable land in SoDo.”

Under ordinances adopted today by the Council, parking for the public to replace spaces in the North Lot will be made available at the King County Metro central campus employee parking garage at 6^th Ave. S. and S. Royal Brougham Way 

Under the agreement, the County grants rights to the Washington State Public Stadium Authority for event use of available spaces at the Metro garage, in exchange for $10.2 million from North Lot Development LLC. That’s in addition to $10 million the development firm paid the County for the North Lot property.

The project to be built on the North Lot of the old Kingdome site is expected to create up to 2,700 construction jobs. Over the next decade, the development is projected to generate more than $727 million in economic activity.

The $180 million first phase of the project will become the largest transit-oriented development in the Pacific Northwest. The development is expected to include nearly 1.5 million square feet of uses, including up to 800 mixed-income residential units, a hotel, 400,000 square feet of office space, and 35,000 square feet of retail space.

The project will create an urban development in a walkable neighborhood near the downtown core. Its location near Amtrak at King Street Station and several major bus lines will provide residents and users with a number of transportation alternatives.

“It’s a great deal for Pioneer Square, for fans at the stadiums, for construction workers and economic recovery, and for the taxpayers of King County,” said Executive Constantine.