City council approves sale of vacant lot in front of City Hall

The Seattle city council approved a deal Monday to sell long-vacant block in front of City Hall known as Civic Square to Bosa Development, the Vancouver-based developer behind the Insignia.

The agreement will clear the way for a 57-story residential tower with a 25,000-square-foot public plaza on the block bounded by Third Avenue, Fourth Avenue, James Street, and Cherry Street.

The city will gain $16 million in cash proceeds from the sale, plus at least $5.7 million in affordable housing funds and $16 million for the city’s Equitable Development Initiative.

Along with the value of other aspects of the deal, like the project labor agreement, continuous transit tunnel operation during construction, and release of liability, the city values the deal at about $50 million.

The agreement passed Full Council with a seven-to-one vote. The only city councilor opposed was Kshama Sawant, who called the sale “corporate welfare” and said the plaza space could be used to build more affordable housing.

Via Seattle City Council

The history of this development is wrought with false starts. The property used to be the city’s Public Safety Building, which was demolished in 2005. Even before demolition was complete, then-mayor Greg Nickels had some big plans for the site, which was opposed by many city councilors due to a lack of open space.

About a decade ago, Triad Development proposed a 43-story tower on the site. After an eight-year hiatus due to financial issues, the deal seemed to be back on in 2015 until a shakedown scandal by a Triad employee—making “go Hawks” an inside joke among wonky political circles and causing the city to lose faith in the group.

In early 2016, rumor had it that the project would be transferred to Seattle developer Touchstone but a lack of financial interest seemed to officially kill Civic Square once and for all. Then in July, the mayor said that the city was in fact still trying to figure out how to make something happen.

Finally, nearly a year ago, the mayor announced that the city would negotiate a deal with Bosa Development to develop the site. That eventually became the deal approved by the city council Monday.

The short version: The vacant pit in front of City Hall will likely be not-a-pit soon, after being a pit for 12 years. It’s up to Bosa now.

This article has been corrected to reflect that Bosa Development is based in Vancouver.

• Civic Square Amended and Restated Purchase and Sale and Development Agreement [City of Seattle]
• 601 4th Avenue [SIP]
• Seattle’s Civic Square project may finally, actually be happening [CS]
• Nickels seeking to privatize plaza at city building [Seattle Times]