Seattle University is expanding. In fact, once it's done expanding, it will have doubled in size. The Capitol Hill-based university received City Council approval Monday on their 20-year plan to more than double the square footage of the campus at Broadway and Madison.
The approved plan calls for a campus growth of 2.4 acres, which will add 2 million square feet, create new pedestrian walkways along 12th Avenue and a bevy of new academic buildings.
Not every part of the plan has been accepted. Plans to expand the campus top the corner of 12th Avenue and East Marion Street were rejected due to neighborhood concerns about over-expansion and lack of diversity.
The council did approve plans to also build an sports complex at 13th Avenue East and East Columbia Street. The site was formerly a Coca-Cola bottling plant.
According to the University, Phase I will focus on the lower 11th Avenue mall and its connection with the 12th Avenue Urban Village. Possible new construction could go into new housing buildings, the Library, scaling down the mall, a Bannan building addition, parking under Logan Field and an expansion next to the Law School. Phase II would shift focus to developing the 10th Avenue mall and connecting to Broadway.
With the approval, there is now a 21-day period for Seattle citizens to file any appeal.
· Seattle U gets city approval to double its square footage [DJC]
· City Council set to approve Seattle University 20-year campus plan [PSBJ]
· Outcomes of the Facilities Master Planning Process [Seattle U]