(The Center Square) – Seattle property owners will be asked to approve a plan that will result in higher taxes to fund the renovation of the aging Seattle Center campus, home of the 1962 World’s Fair and numerous iconic buildings, including The Space Needle and The Climate Pledge Arena.
Just how much of a tax increase the plan announced this week by Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and Councilmember Rob Saka will result in is unclear.
Neither Wilson nor Saka has determined the amount of a bond issue to be floated to pay for the renovations. But some backers of the plan last year mentioned a bond issue of up to $1.5 billion.
Depending on the terms and length of the bond, a $1.5 billion bond would end up costing taxpayers at least $2.5 billion with interest and fees.
The City Council’s Transportation, Waterfront, and Seattle Center Committee will begin taking up the matter on Thursday morning.
It’s unclear when a potential referendum would be held.
It would need the approval of 60% of voters. Seattle taxpayers currently pay more than $8,000 a year in taxes, based on a median home valued at more than $872,000.
“We do know that we need to do something, and we need to do something ASAP,” Saka said in an interview with Center Square.
He said the exact details of the plan will be hashed out during city council meetings.
While Climate Pledge Arena, current home of the Seattle Kraken hockey team and potential home to a future NBA franchise, was completed in 2021 at a cost of $1.15 billion, some buildings on the 74-acre campus haven’t had renovations in many years.
The whole campus is a hodgepodge of buildings, such as the Museum of Pop Culture, built in the early 2000s, and older facilities that officials say are significantly in need of renovation.
“Seattle Center is one of our city’s great gathering places – a place where arts, culture, community, and civic life come together,” Wilson stated in a statement kicking off the renovation plan.
Renovations are expected to include the Amory Building, one of the largest on campus, and Memorial Stadium, which hosts numerous sporting events, as well as the iconic 132-foot “space gothic” arches outside the Pacific Science Center.
A presentation to be discussed at Thursday’s meeting also shows that improvements could be made to the monorail system, which has been in operation since 1962.
Climate Pledge Arena could host a new basketball expansion team following a NBA owner vote in July, and Saka said a renovated Seattle Center would be a positive for guests, offering places to stroll and other entertainment options, bringing new revenue to the city.
“It will be a positive for fans,” he said. “Another reason to go to Supersonics games.”
