Harrell calls for re-activating downtown Seattle in State of the City address

Mayor Bruce Harrell is calling for a re-activation of Downtown Seattle at a time many people are still working from home after COVID.

“It’s the time for bold action. That’s why our long-term plans center around downtown as a sort of a laboratory for the future,” Harrell said Tuesday in his State of the City address.

One idea increasingly discussed nationwide is to convert unused office space into housing.

Next month, Harrell plans to launch a design competition for office-to-apartment conversions.

“Downtown’s office spaces may never fill up as before, and we need more housing options,” Harrell said.

Harrell also calls for rethinking ground floor retail space that’s often unused and creating 24/7 entertainment districts to bring people downtown.

“I’m really excited for the forward-looking vision about what’s needed for downtown,” said Lisa Howard of the Alliance for Pioneer Square.

Rachel Smith, President and CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said she supports the mayor’s all-of-the-above approach but is cautious about converting offices.

“We’re still working on our return-to-office, so I wouldn’t count out that employers might need that space for themselves just yet,” Smith said.

Last week, Amazon told workers to return to the office at least three days a week.

“I, as mayor, embrace the proposition that it must be safe for them to return. As employees return, it has to be safe,” Harrell said.

Harrell said public safety is key to downtown recovery and talked about walking Third Avenue last week.

“I saw actually people using fentanyl. Quite frankly, it breaks my heart,” he said.

The mayor said he’s planning an executive order soon related to the fentanyl public health crisis.