Right across the street from City Hall is the “hole in the ground,” aka the Civic Square project. After years of starts, stops, scandals and recessions, last October Bosa Development signed an MOU with the City of Seattle and Triad Development to take over the project, pending the signing of a new development agreement with the city. Their intent was to have the next agreement signed by December 31, and Bosa would begin construction by June 30, 2018.
Since then, silence. What’s up?
Some of the proceeds from the city’s sale of the property were intended to fund the Equitable Development Initiative, which came up in the context of budget discussions last week. Since we haven’t heard anything about Civic Square for months and the self-imposed deadline for an agreement is long since passed, I asked the Finance and Administrative Services Department what the project’s status is.
A spokesperson for FAS responded:
“The City’s Finance and Administrative Services Department (FAS) continues to work with Bosa Development to negotiate a transaction for the Civic Square development. As this is a very complex project, FAS and Bosa have agreed to extend the due diligence period to allow time to refine the design of the building and civic plaza, work with Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, discuss the project with labor unions and to finalize the necessary financing package for construction. The due diligence period has been extended through June 30, 2017, and the proposed transaction should be transmitted to the City Council for approval this summer. All parties are interested in seeing the development of the Civic Square project through to completion and are working together to achieve that goal.”
In the meantime, the city has loaned itself money to make sure the Equitable Development Initiative is funded and can move forward without delay.