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The City of Seattle
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An ordinance relating to City-owned real property known as Lake City Garage and Plaza; transferring jurisdiction and management authority from the Department of Finance and Administrative Services to Seattle Parks and Recreation for municipal purposes; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.
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Recitals:
In 1958, The City of Seattle acquired real property located at 12509 28th Avenue Northeast via a Statutory Warranty Deed for the purpose of establishing a park.
In 1963, the property was transferred from the Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) to Seattle Public Library (SPL) pursuant to Ordinance 92584 to build the original Lake City Library.
In 2004, the Fleets and Facilities Department, the predecessor department of the Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS), acquired a plaza and a subterranean garage located at 12509 28th Avenue Northeast pursuant to Ordinance 121471, which established the Lake City Civic Center.
Since 2004, FAS has managed the joint use of the garage and adjacent stairs and elevator serving the garage, in partnership with SPL, and assumed costs of maintenance and upkeep for those structures, while SPR has managed the plaza. SPL and FAS regularly used the garage for staff and customers until the garage was closed due to security concerns.
In 2025, the Office of Housing (OH) and SPR issued a joint Request for Proposals (RFP) for redevelopment of the former Lake City Community Center site located on SPR property immediately north of the plaza, which will consist of a mixed-use building with a community center to be operated by SPR on the bottom two floors and six floors of affordable rental housing above (the “Project”).
In 2025, SPR reached out to FAS to express interest in transferring jurisdiction of the property (as legally described in Attachment 1 to this ordinance, the “Property”) to enhance the Project.
SPR envisions this property transfer will meet multiple needs. In the short term, the existing Property will be used for construction staging. In the long term, taking advantage of the existing ramp and existing curb cut alleviates the need for the construction of a second access ramp to serve the new garage under the SPR community center and OH-funded affordable housing structure. The new parking garage will meet code requirements for the Project. The transfer of jurisdiction of the existing garage from FAS to SPR will facilitate overflow parking for the community center and affordable housing and will also allow for SPR to collaborate with the FAS Customer Service Center (CSC) and SPL to accommodate their future parking demands.
FAS has determined it has no future need for the Property and that the Property would best serve community needs through a transfer of jurisdiction to SPR to support the Project.
SPR and FAS have agreed to the transfer of jurisdiction of the Property to SPR for the Project with conditions. Therefore,
Be it ordained by The City of Seattle as follows:
Section 1. The City Council authorizes the Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS) to transfer jurisdiction of the property located at 12509 28th Avenue Northeast, including the surface plaza and subterranean garage and all related infrastructure (the “Property”), as legally described in Attachment 1 to this ordinance, to Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) for municipal purposes to support the redevelopment of Lake City Community Center with affordable rental housing which will be sponsored by the Office of Housing.
Section 2. The terms of the transfer of jurisdiction shall be as agreed to by SPR and FAS, namely, that in lieu of cash payment to FAS, SPR will: accept transfer of the Property in as-is condition and assume all maintenance and operating costs for the Property; grant a continued right of access to the stairs and elevator located in the garage to serve the FAS Customer Service Center (CSC) at the Lake City Library building; and grant FAS eight parking passes in the garage for use by the CSC. SPR and FAS acknowledge that, in the future, the CSC may be charged for maintenance and usage of the Property, including the elevator, which may be memorialized in an interdepartmental agreement.
Section 3. The Superintendent of SPR, or the Superintendent’s designee, is authorized to negotiate and execute leases, licenses, operating agreements, concession agreements, management agreements, and related use agreements for all or any portion of the Property, including the subterranean garage, parking areas, access areas, stairs, elevators, and related improvements, for terms not to exceed five years for any single agreement, upon such terms and conditions as the Superintendent deems reasonable and in the best interests of The City of Seattle, consistent with applicable law. The Superintendent is further authorized to renew, amend, assign, terminate, or replace such agreements, provided that no individual agreement shall exceed five years in duration without further authority by ordinance.
Section 4. Any act consistent with the authority of this ordinance taken after its passage and prior to its effective date is ratified and confirmed.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Legal Description of Property
This ordinance shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Sections 1.04.020 and 1.04.070.
Passed by the City Council and signed in open session in authentication of its passage on .
President of the City Council
on .
Katie B. Wilson, Mayor
Scheereen Dedman, City Clerk