Photo by Wendi Dunlap / Beacon Hill Blog.Seattle Central is probably coming to Beacon Hill after all.
The Seattle Times reports tonight that the Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority’s governing council has agreed to a tentative deal for the state Commerce Department to lease 205,000 square feet of the Pacific Tower/PacMed building (13 floors) for 30 years. This will begin a 90-day due diligence period for the state, which plans to sublease six floors to Seattle Central Community College for health-training programs, including a new Bachelor of Nursing degree.
The remaining seven floors would be subleased to other non-profit agencies that focus on health care and social services.
The building has been mostly vacant since Amazon.com moved out in 2011.
The public hearing scheduled for next week on the future use of the North Beacon building officially called Pacific Tower (but universally known as PacMed) has been cancelled. The public hearing had been scheduled for Wedneday, August 7. No reason was given for the cancellation and we don’t yet know if it will be rescheduled.
Photo by Yuek Hahn in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.The Seattle Times reports that the Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority governing council voted this morning to continue discussions with both entities interested in a long term lease of the landmark PacMed building.
On Monday, the state rejected the 30-year lease the PDA recently proposed, stating that more time was needed to perform due diligence. This morning, the governing council met to discuss the alternate deal on the table by Miami-based homebuilding company Lennar, which would take out a 75-year lease and convert the building to market-rate apartments.
The council voted today to continue discussions with Lennar, and also to meet with the state to determine whether the issues between the two sides can be resolved.
In the state’s plan, Seattle Central Community College would use 85,000 square feet for health-training programs, including a new Bachelor of Nursing degree. Non-profit groups focusing on community health and social services would form an “innovation center” that would take up the remaining floors of the building.
If you want to let the Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority know your thoughts on the current situation, contact Rosemary Aragon, the Executive Director of the PDA at r.aragon@phpda.org or by mail to 1200 12th Ave. S, Quarters 2, Seattle, WA 98144.
Photo by Wendi Dunlap.The Seattle Times reports tonight that the state Department of Commerce has rejected the proposed lease agreement that would have put Seattle Central Community College health-training programs and other non-profit agencies in the 1932 Art Deco landmark PacMed building, which most recently housed the Amazon corporate headquarters.
The public authority that owns the building, the Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority, proposed a 30-year lease that would require the state to provide $250,000 in exchange for 60 more days to conduct due diligence evaluation of the building’s condition. The state would prefer 90 days to conduct its due diligence.
The PDA’s governing council has said that if the state did not agree to this lease by Monday evening, they would turn to “other lease alternatives.” The other lease offer on the table is from Lennar, a Miami-based homebuilder that offers a 75-year lease with $25 million in improvements to create 165 market-rate one- and two- bedroom apartments, a gym, and a dining lounge.
The Seattle Central Community College plan, funded with $20 million approved by the Legislature, would use 85,000 square feet for health-training programs, including a new Bachelor of Nursing degree. Non-profit groups focusing on community health would take up the remaining floors of the building.
Added 11:21 p.m.: If you want to let the Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority know your thoughts on the current situation, contact Rosemary Aragon, the Executive Director of the PDA at r.aragon@phpda.org or by mail to 1200 12th Ave. S, Quarters 2, Seattle, WA 98144. She will forward your letters to the members of the Board.
Seattle Central Community College is proposing locating its Allied Health programs in Pacific Tower, the former hospital and Amazon headquarters building more commonly known as PacMed. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.Tom Byers of the Cedar River Group sent a notice this week about the current status of the proposed Pacific Tower/PacMed Building project in which Seattle Central Community College would lease part of the former headquarters of Amazon.com to host Seattle Central’s Allied Health programs including Dental Hygiene, Nursing, Respiratory, Surgical Technology, and Opticianry. Remaining space would be leased to local nonprofits such as Neighborhood House and Fare Start. For the project to move forward, the Legislature needed to include funding in the State budget.
Byers’ message reads:
Dear friends—Here are the most recent developments in the effort to establish the community health college and innovation center at Pacific Tower:
Amazingly, supporters of the Pacific Tower project in the legislature were successful on all fronts!
The State operating budget includes funding for the lease of the tower as well as provisions enabling the State to enter into a long-term lease for the building.
The capital budget included $20 million in funding for the tenant improvements for the community health college and other improvements at the tower.
State officials led by Rep. Jamie Peterson have been working with the PDA and its lawyers to agree on the terms of a draft lease.
Although all parties agree that a great deal of progress has been made in the last 10 days, the executive director of the PDA has indicated more time is needed to negotiate several points before the Governing Council can make a decision between our proposal and the other option they have in hand.
Therefore the hearing and Council vote scheduled for July 9th has been postponed. The new date is 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 25th at Pacific Medical Center’s Beacon Hill Clinic. Please mark your calendars and plan to be there!
In spite of all this positive news, the success of our proposal will ultimately be determined by a vote of the PDA governing Council. Your letters of support are making a big difference, but we can’t stop now! We need to continue the out-pouring of community support.
Those of you who have not yet have written to the Public Development Authority in support of the proposal are urged to do so now! You can address your letters to Rosemary Aragon, Executive Director, Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority, 1200 12th Ave. S, Quarters 2, Seattle, WA 98144; or by email at r.aragon@phpda.org. She will forward your letters to the members of the Board.
Thank you for all of the support you have given this effort. We will look forward to seeing you at the hearing, and will keep you up to date on any significant developments that occur during the next three weeks.
Seattle Central Community College is proposing locating its Allied Health programs in Pacific Tower, the former hospital and Amazon headquarters building more commonly known as PacMed. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.New life may be coming to the mostly vacant PacMed building (Pacific Tower) on the northern tip of Beacon Hill. A neighbor at Seattle Central Community College forwarded us this memo from college President Paul T. Killpatrick:
As some of you may have heard, Seattle Community Colleges has been approached by area legislators and community members to consider leasing a portion of Pacific Tower on Beacon Hill. The Tower currently houses the Pacific Medical Center Beacon Hill Clinic on the first floor. The upper floors, formerly occupied by Amazon headquarters, are now empty. Initially, the District considered creating a district-wide program for the PacMed facility. When that did not look feasible, Seattle Central suggested consolidating our growing Allied Health programs in the Tower.
The College has proposed remodeling between 86,000 and 106,000 square feet of the Pacific Tower to house the College’s Allied Health programs, including Dental Hygiene, Nursing, Respiratory, Surgical Technology, and Opticianry. Renovation cost of the Pacific Tower is estimated to be approximately $27 million and the legislators have indicated they will seek funding for the lease and the renovations needed. Vacated space in our current buildings will be remodeled for much needed additional classrooms.
The Pacific Medical Center has expressed an interest in working with Seattle Central Community College to offer clinical training opportunities for Seattle Central’s Allied Health students at the Pacific Medical Beacon Hill Center and at eight other PacMed clinics in the region. Several other complimentary agencies and programs have also expressed interest in joining Seattle Central Community College to lease the remaining space in the Pacific Tower. These agencies include the Cross Cultural Health Program, NeighborCare, Neighborhood House, Philanthropy Northwest, 501 Commons, and Fare Start.
While this is an exciting opportunity for Seattle Central Community College, everything is contingent upon the Legislature approving the capital funding for this project. In addition, many details have yet to be worked out as this project involves several different agencies and partners. We will update the campus community with more information as it becomes available.
This is an interesting possibility for the much-loved landmark building, and for students at Seattle Central. The Allied Health program is a good fit with the historic and current uses of the building. Stay tuned for more information on this project.
What is the future of this iconic building? Photo by Wendi Dunlap.An addition has been made to the agenda for Tuesday night’s North Beacon Hill Council meeting. Rosemary Aragon, Executive Director of the Pacific Hospital Preservation and Development Authority (PDA), will be on hand to discuss the recent termination of Wright Runstad’s lease on the historic PacMed Center building, and talk about the PDA’s history and mission: to remove gaps in healthcare access.
As the Seattle Times reported recently, Wright Runstad lost their 99-year lease 85 years early after they missed a $380,000 quarterly lease payment in June, and then were unable to meet a deadline last week to pay the back rent.
The council meeting will start at 7 p.m. at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Ave. S.
The historic PacMed building. Photo by Erick Mota in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr. Thanks, Erick!Grab your pocketbooks and warm up those credit cards: the Seattle Times reports that the landmark PacMed building on the north tip of Beacon Hill, one-time home to Amazon.com, is going up for auction. But it’s not on eBay, and the starting bid may be a little rich for the average Beaconian’s blood: $2 million.
According to the Times, the holders of the building’s loan, Wright Runstad, have put the loan up for bids at Auction.com, a site that specializes in real estate auctions both online and live. A new owner of the loan might move to foreclose, or to renegotiate the $20.5 million outstanding debt on the building.
Wright Runstad has been unable to find a tenant to replace Amazon. The building was considered for a new King County juvenile court and jail last year, and City University also considered relocating to the historic building, but both plans fell through.
The historic PacMed building. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.There had been some talk that City University would move into the PacMed/Amazon building at the north end of Beacon Hill. However, the university has decided instead to move to the Sixth & Wall building in the Denny Regrade (or Belltown) area, according to the Seattle Times. The building was once the home of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and later of Group Health.
“The university also considered the PacMed building on Beacon Hill—Amazon.com’s former headquarters—but chose Sixth & Wall after taking students to visit both buildings, (City University spokesperson Tarsi) Hall said.
“‘They really liked the neighborhood we’re moving to,’ she said.”
We aren’t sure, but was Beacon Hill just dissed?
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Chef Vincent Rivera of Jazz Alley will be at El Centro de la Raza on Sunday, January 29 at 1 p.m. for a special cooking demonstration, making mole enchiladas and traditional side dishes. The demonstration will include both meat and vegetarian food.
Tickets are $40 and will benefit the El Centro de la Raza Senior Nutrition and Wellness program, which provides meals along with daily social, exercise and educational activities to seniors. Tickets may be purchased online through Brown Paper Tickets.
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Jordan Van Voast of CommuniChi sent us this announcement:
“Happy Chinese New Year all, CommuniChi is celebrating 5 years of service to Beacon Hill and Seattle, offering affordable acupuncture. To celebrate, we are offering Free Acupuncture (to New Patients) on February 1.”
The Benders art show at NEPO House is extended through January 28 because of last week’s snow shenanigans. More info at the NEPO website.
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Save the date—on February 4 there will be a ROCKiT Art Chair community celebration party at the library, and at Jose Rizal Park, there will be a dedication of a monument to honor World War II Filipino defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. Stay tuned for more information about these events here on the blog soon!
The proposal to move the Youth Services Center (including juvenile court and detention facilities) into Beacon Hill’s PacMed building is now off the table. King County officials have determined that none of the six proposals for replacement of the Alder Youth Services Center—including the PacMed proposal—meet the county’s affordability criteria.
According to County Administrative Officer Caroline Whalen, one of the primary goals of the process was that “the [Youth Services Center] project should be, to the extent possible, cost-neutral to King County or at least minimize the financial contribution required to be made by King County.” None of the submitted proposals were found to meet this criteria, so the county is ending the current procurement process and considering its next steps.
See further reporting from the Beacon Hill Blog‘s news partners:
