The Washington State Convention Center (WSCC) announced today that it was seeking $300 million bailout from the federal government to stay afloat. The WSCC’s ambitious $1.8 billion expansion project is midway through construction but in jeopardy due to the economic crisis. The project will run out of money in 10 to 12 months without intervention, project developer Matt Griffin said.
Local leaders like King County Executive Dow Constantine and MLK Labor Council’s Nicole Grant backed the WSCC in their request and emphasized that thousands of jobs were at stake. The estimate cited throughout the presentation fluctuated based on how many indirect jobs were lumped in with figures. Griffin said about 1,000 construction workers would be on site in 10 to 12 months when the funds are expected to run out and force the project to pause.
Executive Constantine seemed to emphasize both regional vitality and strength and the vulnerability that the convention center represents if it was not completed: “There are few [projects] that are more important to the region than the Convention Center Addition.”
“We have one of the best economies in the world here. We’re a hub of innovation that connects the rest of the region and the rest of the world,” Constantine said. “Delaying the project would have devastating effects on the construction industry and the hospitality industry… It would have a ripple effect across the region.”
Those ripple effects also include timely payments on the $161 million land sale Executive Constantine authorized on behalf of King County. The convention center is rising from the former footprint of the County-owned Convention Place bus station.
“On behalf of the workers we represent, I want to say the completion of the convention center is a major priority,” Grant said. “There is no way to stop this work. We must persevere. That is why I’m appealing, really appealing to our federal delegation…”
While not invited on the call, former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn criticized the WSCC Addition project and publicly questioned the value of bailing it out.
“Business powerbrokers will claim today in a press conference that a bailout for the Convention Center Expansion is essential to Seattle’s economy,” McGinn tweeted. “But what if, hear me out, expansion is just digging a deeper financial hole?”
McGinn argued the WSCC should show their math on public returns before receiving any infusion of public funds. The pandemic could sap demand for convention space for years to come, both because people won’t feel safe in large gatherings and because the economy may take a long time to recover.
“With hotel occupancy at 20%, and airlines travel plummeting, is now a good time to expand the convention center?” McGinn mused. “Do you believe airline travel and conventions are just going to ‘bounce back’? If they don’t, and there is a permanent reduction in demand, what then?”
