The groundbreaking ceremony took place inside the Century Ballroom which is undergoing some change of its own — the space is now the Reverie Ballroom under new ownership

Rendering of the Constellation Center and the new eight-story apartment building

“The next chapter of hope” is beginning at Broadway and Pine where construction is underway on the $37 million $79 million Constellation Center, a first of its kind project combining affordable housing and a youth education, skills training, and employment academy. To come together, the unique project has required the heft of two of Seattle’s most important Public Development Authorities and its leading provider of services to homeless youth.

UPDATE: No, the cost of the project has not soared. The $37 million figure represented a YouthCare fundraising goal for the project. Total construction budget has been established as $79 million — about $60 million of that is the projected cost of the new apartment buidling.

It also needed a champion. Longtime Democratic State Rep. Frank Chopp, who passed away only days before the ceremony, was remembered as officials gathered late last month to celebrate the Constellation Center’s groundbreaking.

“As we honor the indefatigable and moralistic example of Frank Chopp today, we are here to join forces on a project close to his heart,” Vivek Varma of the Schultz Family Foundation said in his remarks at the March 25th groundbreaking ceremony. “Not only join forces, but as Frank would say if he was here, we’ve got to get it done.”

The foundation is just part of the core of Seattle’s social safety net that has been required to get the Constellation Center plan off the ground. Continue reading →