Project Updates
Find important project updates and information on transportation here.
Arena Design
Arena Design
OVG held an Open House in October 2017 to provide community members an opportunity to join OVG and City representatives to learn about the project and share their ideas.
Design Commission
The Seattle Design Commission advises the Mayor, City Council, and City departments on the design of capital improvements and other projects and policies that shape Seattle's public realm.
The project team is proposing to redevelop the existing arena located within Seattle Center for existing and future professional sports team, other sporting events, concerts, and shows. The redevelopment site includes the area surrounding the existing arena as well as the block bounded by 1st Ave N, Thomas St, Warren Ave, and John St. The existing arena, which is a designated landmark, will be expanded below grade to increase overall seating capacity. The loading area along Thomas St. will be redeveloped into an atrium and pedestrian plaza with parking and loading services located below grade.
On October 5, 2017, the SDC reviewed the pre-concept design for the Seattle Center Arena Development. They did not take an action during that meeting. They provided the project team with several recommendations that should be addressed prior to the next review.
Seattle Design Commission presentation on Seattle Center Arena
Landmarks
KeyArena is more than 50-years old, as are some of the other facilities contained in the Redevelopment Site, and has been designated as a landmark and may qualify for protection. The Landmarks Board, working with the City of Seattle's Department of Neighborhoods, is responsible for administering the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance, Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 25.12.
The Proposal for renovation of KeyArena will need to take into consideration the possibility of a Controls and Incentives Agreement which will required now that the Landmarks Board designated KeyArena as an historic landmark. The City intends to include the Oak View Group in developing the Controls and Incentives Agreement for KeyArena or any portion of the Redevelopment Site. The Seattle City Council must approve any Controls and Incentives Agreement.
Additional information about the City's History Preservation Program may be found here.
Landmarks designation documents:
Permitting
Environmental Impact Statement
An EIS, or Environmental Impact Statement, is prepared under the State Environmental Policy Act. The EIS evaluates probable adverse environmental impacts resulting from the renovation of the Seattle Center Arena. In September and October 2017, the public was invited to provide input on topics the EIS should study. The Seattle Center Arena Renovation Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) was released on April 23, 2018. The DEIS identifies impacts and recommends mitigation related to construction and operation of the renovated Seattle Center Arena.
As part of the DEI process, the City is seeking comments on the Draft EIS. The comment period runs through Thursday, June 7, 2018. Members of the public may submit comments in the following ways:
- By email to prc@seattle.gov
- Through the online open house, at SeattleCenterArenaEIS.org
- At the public hearing on May 14, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Seattle Center Armory Loft 2-3
- By mailing a letter to Public Resource Center (PRC) at: Seattle DCI, PRC, P.O. Box 34019, Seattle, WA 98124-4019
All comments are reviewed equally, regardless of the comment method.
The Draft EIS is available in two parts: find part one here and part two here. You can also go the Seattle DCI webpage and search Permit and Property Records for Project Number 3029061.
Additional Background
The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (Seattle DCI) received a Land Use Application to allow the renovation of Seattle Center Arena. The applicant for this project is the Oak View Group, and the Lead Agency is Seattle DCI.
The main elements of the proposal include: a 10,000-square foot new entry atrium at grade to the south of and below the existing arena roofline; 225,000-square feet below-grade expansion for additional seating, circulation areas, and new interiors located within existing landmark exteriors; and 65,000 square feet for below-grade loading dock, vehicular tunnel, and accessory services. Parking for 450 vehicles will be provided below-grade. The project will include city permits and approvals for the proposed development as well as a subdivision action.
Scoping
Seattle DCI identified the following areas for discussion in the EIS: traffic and transportation; historic preservation (landmarks and archeological resources); light and glare; noise; land use; and public services and facilities (recreation). Agencies, affected tribes, and members of the public were invited to comment on the content and emphasis (the scope) of the Draft EIS during the comment period. On September 28, 2017, the City held a SEPA meeting to hear comments regarding the Seattle Center Arena. All comments are posted to Seattle DCI's Permits and Property Records web page at http://web.seattle.gov/dpd/edms.
Transportation
The Oak View Group was asked to identify transportation impacts from the Project and multimodal strategies they would utilize through transportation infrastructure, operations, programmatic and transit service improvements to address and mitigate those impacts. The multimodal transportation strategies should comply with the Seattle Comprehensive Plan and Climate Action goals and focus on accommodating trips to and from the Arena while minimizing single-occupancy (SOV) trips and minimizing impacts to Seattle Center, the Uptown Urban Center, and surrounding neighborhoods.
The City will establish a separate fund or account ("City Transportation Fund") to be managed in the sole discretion of the City, considering input from stakeholders affected by the Development Project, and used to fund transportation improvements in the neighborhoods surrounding Seattle Center.
The City Transportation Fund will fund some of the projects identified in the Mobility Action Plan (see below), including projects that may improve network connectivity for people of all ages and abilities to walk and bike, enhance transit service and connectivity, and improve overall traffic management in the Seattle Center area.
The City will seek other public and private partners and funding for the purposes of advancing the objectives of the City Transportation Fund, including but not limited to King County and the Port of Seattle. OVG commits Forty Million Dollars ($40,000,000) towards this City Transportation Fund. The City Transportation Fund will not be made available to OVG to fund mitigation obligations identified as part of the environmental impact analysis (EIS) that will occur under SEPA.
Arena Access Management Plan- DRAFT
The Arena Access Management Plan is one of a number of mitigation measures identified in the Seattle Center Arena Renovation Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to lessen transportation impacts identified in the FEIS analysis. Final mitigation measures will be determined by Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), and Seattle Center.
As described in the FEIS (Section 4.5.2), Oak View Group (OVG) will work with Seattle Police Department, SDOT, SDCI, King County Metro, and Seattle Center to develop and implement an Arena Access Management Plan (AAMP). The AAMP will identify a range of strategies for all people traveling to and from events at the arena. The AAMP will include performance metrics that describe the intended effectiveness of the mitigation, and would also describe a periodic monitoring program to measure its effectiveness.
Both the City and OVG want Arena attendees to have a positive experience traveling to and from the venue. The draft AAMP contains strategies to increase the use and attractiveness of transit, walking, and biking, along with traffic and ridehailing management techniques to ensure that people who travel via car effectively navigate to their parking, drop-off, or pick-up location. This is a draft document that contains access strategies that will continue to be reworked and refined.
The draft AAMP can be downloaded below. The AAMP is a flexible, 'living' document, which will be amended by the City and OVG annually, if needed, as transportation conditions or travel behaviors change and based on experience and input from additional parties, including the City, Seattle Center, OVG, police and fire departments, and local transit agencies.
Download the draft AAMP here. NOTE: This document should be downloaded or viewed in Firefox or Internet Explorer to see the proper display.
For any questions, please contact Sara Zora (SDOT) at sara.zora@seattle.gov.
Mobility Transportation Committee
The Mobility Transportation Committee is a sub-group of the Arena Advisory Committee.
Mobility Transportation Committee meeting agendas:
Mobility Action Plan
In response to community input thus far on the Seattle Center Arena, the City of Seattle is developing a North Downtown Mobility Action Plan (NDMAP). The plan will build on previous community and transportation planning work, and will identify new actions and prioritize transportation improvements in the neighborhoods of Uptown, Belltown, and South Lake Union. North Downtown Mobility Action Plan efforts are being planned around the timeline for the Seattle Center Arena EIS. The Mobility Action Plan will recommend and prioritize projects to improve mobility throughout North Downtown.
For more information, check out the NDMAP website.
Contact information:
Seattle Department of Transportation
Ian Macek, Project Manager