Tag Archives: crisis center

Mapping the buffer: Inside the safety and design planning for Broadway’s Crisis Center

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A .25 mile radius around the facility


 
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Central Crisis Care Center

As renovations begin on the former Polyclinic building that spans between Broadway and Harvard along Union, local safety planning for King County’s upcoming Central Crisis Care Center is moving forward on two tracks: an immediate evaluation of neighborhood security gaps and an eventual handoff to an operator-run advisory council once patients arrive.

Last week, CHS reported on the political process across two mayoral administrations that formed a new six-member advisory group responsible for a crucial $3 million safety and community plan to help the surrounding neighborhoods make a better home for the new crisis center when it opens in 2027.

Here is a look at what the group has been working on, the challenges and shortcomings it is facing — and a critical handoff that must be executed with a new group once the center opens. Continue reading →

Group shaping $3M public safety plan around Broadway Crisis Center’s 2027 opening

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An advisory panel formed to steer neighborhood planning for King County’s Central Crisis Care Center at Broadway and Union is already guiding the project, defining the boundaries to be studied for public safety investments and preparing to decide how to spend $3 million in county mitigation funds.

The Seattle Community Advisory Group grew out of political compromise surrounding Seattle City Hall’s conditional approval of the Capitol Hill facility.

While the need for citizen oversight was a major component of debate by the King County Council during deliberations over approval of the Crisis Center acquisition last year, the process of forming an advisory group to launch the process and prioritize the spending of the $3 million earmarked for the neighborhood was not spelled out.

In late 2025, after his defeat in the November election, then-Mayor Bruce Harrell made a series of last minute appointments to fill the advisory council and advised the county of the choices.

A person close to the process said the county “sat” on the list until newly elected Mayor Katie Wilson took office.

“Wilson had opportunity for changes,” the official told CHS, but her young administration never acted on the list. District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth also did not ask for any changes. The group began meeting in April. Continue reading →

King County Council approves funding plan for $56M Broadway Crisis Care Center — UPDATE

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From the real estate listing for the property

The King County Council is expected to vote Tuesday on a funding package for the planned $56 million Broadway Crisis Care Center that would keep the process on track for a 2027 opening of the facility.

UPDATE 6:00 PM: The council approved the package Tuesday afternoon clearing the way for a $41 million purchase of the property including a financing plan that would include millions in projected revenue from leasing portions of the building, potentially to Harborview. The plan includes another $15 million for the costs of upgrading the facility and funding a contract operator. Officials said Tuesday the funding includes resources to address public safety concerns including environmental design spending and funding security resources for the contract operator. The spending plan also will include transportation funding for patients after their stay at the center. An ordinance authorizing the issuance of bonds for Harborview to lease a portion of the property passed 6-3. The core financial ordinance to fund the builidng’s purchased was approved unanimously.

UPDATE 10/8/2025 9 AM: “Today, we’re responding to voters’ mandate to expand care and delivering on our commitment to ensuring anyone in crisis can receive timely, appropriate mental health care and treatment for substance use disorder when and where they need it,” King County Executive Shannon Braddock said in a statement sent to CHS. “This marks a critical step forward in expanding access to urgent behavioral health care across our region.”

“As we move ahead, our commitment remains firm: we will continue working closely with community members, the King County Council, and the City of Seattle to shape a center that reflects our shared needs and values — one that provides essential care today and builds a foundation for long-term impact for years to come.”

In its statement, the county also emphasized it has analyzed the property “as part of our standard due diligence process and is aware that repairs and maintenance have been needed.”

“These repairs and maintenance have consistently been a part of our financial planning,” the statement reads. “We are confident we can make the proper modifications to bring a Crisis Care Center online in this building.”

Original report: Legislation enabling the purchase of the former Polyclinic property at Broadway and Union was passed out of the council’s finance committee in September but not without debate over concerns surrounding the planned 24-7 walk-in and emergency care mental health clinic that would be the second location in a planned network of five centers across the county.

In September, the King County Council’s budget committee approved a set of ordinances to set up the fund that will pay for the acquisition and operation of the new levy-powered mental health crisis center at Broadway and Union as part of a planned $1.25 billion network of five facilities across the county. Continue reading →

‘The intermediary got a really good deal’ — County says development firm’s ‘flip’ of $42M Broadway Crisis Care Center property squares up

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A street view of the facility (Image: King County)

King County officials say that despite a Seattle real estate development group standing to make a cool $10 million or more on the flip, they are paying a fair market price for the Broadway and Union medical facility slated to be transformed into a new mental health Crisis Care Center by 2027.

The “assignment fee” in the county’s $42 million deal for the Polyclinic/Optum building has been a key issue for critics of the plan and was the center of questions from King County Council budget committee chair Rod Dembowski as his committee ultimately voted to move funding for the $56 million project forward earlier this month.

“A one year flip for $10 million? The intermediary got a really good deal,” Dembrowski said during the committee proceedings. Continue reading →

More letters join mayor’s conditional support for Broadway Crisis Care Center plan

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Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has given his conditional support to siting a new county mental health crisis center inside a former medical building at Broadway and Union. Capitol Hill community groups are also formally weighing on the proposal as the King County Council begins debate on the plan.

“The primary concerns from our community members are about the public safety effects of the Crisis Care Center. Many residents expressed a belief that the Crisis Care Center would improve the public safety of the area,” a letter from the Capitol Hill Community Council also conditionally supporting the plan reads. “Other community members question that belief, and we support the careful consideration of their concerns and a public safety plan that addresses concerns of community members.”

In their letter, the volunteer community group agreed the King County Department of Community and Human Services is so far showing “good faith effort” in answering the council’s questions and responding to concerns.

“While not all the forwarded questions were addressed, and while not all answers are as forthcoming as we may have hoped, we believe that this represents a good faith effort by King County to engage with the concerns of members of the community in a fair way,” the council’s letter continues. “Based on this action, and others including neighborhood walks with community members, we anticipate that King County will strive to be good neighbors and run the Crisis Care Center in a positive way that reflects and responds to the community in which it is housed.”

The full Capitol Hill Community Council letter is below.

CHS reported here in August on Harrell’s conditional support for the planned $56 million Broadway Crisis Care Center that would transform a former Polyclinic facility at Broadway and Union.

In his letter, Harrell said the county and a yet to be announced operator of the center must partner with the Seattle Police Department to assess the former Polyclinic building and its surroundings for safety, execute a “safe operations plan for the building and the surrounding exterior spaces, including public sidewalks and other publicly accessible spaces,” and enter into a Good Neighbor Agreement with the city that “obligates the provider to meet certain safety and disorder standards to be negotiated with the provider.” Requirements would include forming a citizen advisory committee to guide the emergency and walk-in clinic that is planned to be part of a voter-approved, $1.25 billion network of five facilities across the county.

The mayor’s letter of support is a key milestone in the so far limited public process around the proposal.

Other groups are voicing support. Continue reading →

‘Placing it in the heart of the city makes sense’ — State, county, and city leaders working to shape Broadway Crisis Care Center plan

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The former Polyclinic facility

State Rep. Shaun Scott sees it as an opportunity for three levels of local government to come together to push for the right thing. Folks at the King County Department of Community and Human Services feel like they are running to catch up with the questions and concerns.

“I see it as my role as a representative of the 43rd Legislative District to be part of the solution, not part of the problem,” Scott tells CHS about his effort to organize a town hall Monday night on Capitol Hill to raise support for what the first-year state legislator says is a desperately needed resource that will be ready to serve the entire community.

“Placing it in the heart of the city makes sense,” Scott said.

CHS reported here on the plans for Monday night’s Crisis Care Center Townhall as Scott will be joined by Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck and county officials at Capitol Hill art bar Vermillion in a session hoped to drum up support — and counter business community-led opposition — to a major mental health Crisis Care Center being planned for Broadway and Union.

Monday’s planned event comes after the county met with significant pushback from the area business community over its $50 million proposal to acquire the former Polyclinic building at the corner of Broadway and Union to create an emergency and walk-in clinic part of a voter-approved, $1.25 billion network of five facilities across the county. Continue reading →