Tag Archives: king county

Sharyn Grayson House — county’s Health Through Housing Capitol Hill apartment building — ready for residents

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Grayson (Image: SF.gov)

As it touts the success of the program in keeping people housed, King County’s “Health Through Housing” Capitol Hill apartment building is ready to welcome its first residents after nearly three years of planning and preparation.

Just off Broadway, the four-story, 35-unit Sharyn Grayson House has been prepared to provide supportive housing for “queer, transgender, two-spirit, Black, Indigenous, people of color” experiencing chronic homelessness as part of the county initiative,

The Lavender Rights Project and Chief Seattle Club residential building is named to honor Grayson, a Transgender advocate and Trans community icon.

The county says the opening of Sharyn Grayson House will add to the success of its Health Through Housing developments in helping to break the cycles of homelessness. Continue reading →

Regional Transit Safety Task Force recommendations: bigger barriers to protect drivers, stronger rider code of conduct, better responses for ‘vulnerable riders’

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A task force formed to address operator and rider safety on public transit in the wake of the slaying of a Metro bus driver last year has delivered its recommendations.

The Regional Transit Safety Task Force handed over its report to the King County Council’s transportation committee last week.

The task force identified six initiatives including adding bigger, strong barriers to protect Metro’s drivers. The recommendations also focus on improving communication and coordination during emergencies, increased focus on rider Code of Conduct, increased security resources, and increased focus on mental crisis response, youth-centered strategies, and support for unhoused riders: Continue reading →

King County Council ready for vote on funding plan for $56M Broadway Crisis Care Center — UPDATE: Approved

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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 →

In key vote, King County Council committee moves plan for $56M Broadway Crisis Care Center forward with promises on public safety and oversight

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The former Polyclinic facility

There will be no emergency pause in the legislative process around funding the planned $56 million Broadway Crisis Care Center. Officials Wednesday said time is already on the side of answering public safety concerns and putting important new resources in place before the center’s planned opening at Broadway and Union in 2027.

Questions about millions of dollars to be paid to a real estate firm intermediary in the sale agreement also need to be answered.

But there is urgency for people struggling with mental health in the city. “There are very few places in King County they can walk into. Because of this, they are suffering in our streets,” committee member and King County Executive candidate Girmay Zahilay said Wednesday before the votes.

Wednesday, the King County Council’s budget committee approved a raft 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 part of a planned $1.25 billion network of five facilities across the county.

The votes keep the process around the planned center on track as key deadlines arrive in the purchase agreement with UnitedHealth Group’s Optum subsidiary. The county’s Department of Community and Human Services said previously a purchase and sale agreement was put in place for the former Polyclinic facility in January with hopes of closing the deal by the end of summer.

CHS reported here on a call for a pause on the legislation from a group of area property owners and businesses.

Wednesday’s votes followed a public comment session dominated by the concerns raised by the group around public safety at the planned center near Seattle University and just a few blocks from the private Seattle Academy middle and high schools.

Questions were also raised about the project’s outreach process and a millions of dollar fee being paid to a real estate firm in the middle of the dealings. Continue reading →

Report: King County Council mulling pause in Broadway Crisis Care Center process — UPDATE

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The proposed Broadway site

A member of the King County Council says he has prepared an “emergency resolution” calling for a 30-day pause on the county’s efforts to acquire the Polyclinic building at the corner of Broadway and Union where a $56 million Broadway Crisis Care Center is planned.

Reagan Dunn, representing the county’s southeast, is reportedly mulling the call for a pause over concerns about the proposed property deal raised by “a group of Capitol Hill business owners and residents,” KOMO reports:

The group sent a lengthy letter to King County Executive Shannon Braddock, County Council Chair Girmay Zahilay, and Department of Community and Health Services Director Kelly Rider last week, accusing them of potentially violating laws and triggering a devolving street crime situation like what happed with the failed Navigation Center in Little Saigon.

UPDATE: In a statement provided to CHS Tuesday, Dunn is reportedly pausing his call for a pause. “CM Dunn is not currently calling for the aforementioned delay pending the outcome of tomorrow’s hearing where we will learn more about the issue,” a spokesperson said.

CHS has not been provided with a copy of the letter but representatives from nearby Cancer Pathways and Perkins Glass spoke to the TV station about their concerns over the proposed center.

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 →

Mayor’s conditions for $56M Broadway Crisis Care Center plan include Seattle Police safety sign-off, citizen advisory committee

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The building from above from a recent real estate listing (Image: CBRE)

Screenshot

As the King County Council prepares to vote on a $56 million plan to create a new Crisis Care Center at Broadway and Union, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has conditionally endorsed the proposal and says the city is ready to “partner” on the new facility.

“Seattle, along with other cities in the County, is facing an unprecedented behavioral health crisis. Too many residents are struggling with behavioral issues without adequate support,” the mayor’s letter in support the plan for the facility reads. “When the Seattle clinic opens it will provide same-day access to care for a person in crisis, which will help reduce the crisis we see on our streets every day.”

In the letter, Harrell says 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.”

The Seattle City Hall letter of support is a key milestone in the so far limited public process around the proposal. 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 →

Scott and Rinck holding ‘Crisis Care Center Townhall’ on Capitol Hill

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The proposed Broadway site

There have been few public updates on the King County Department of Community and Human Services plan to open a mental health Crisis Care Center at Broadway and Union but two Seattle political leaders are collaborating on an event next week on Capitol Hill to raise support for the project.

“7/7 @ 7PM is our chance to lift every voice in support of a behavioral health crisis center that will help the Capitol Hill community and its people,” reads the social media post from Rep. Shaun Scott. “Come ready to have a good time at Vermillion with community leaders who support an inclusive Seattle.”

The Crisis Care Center Townhall will take place Monday night at the 11th Ave art bar and will include Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, according to the flyer.

We have inquiries out to Scott and Rinck to learn more. King County DCHS is also listed as part of the event as is comedian Brett Hamil.

“Drinks + Comedy + Civics,” the pitch reads. Continue reading →

Council calls for King County Assessor and Executive candidate Wilson to resign over stalking allegations

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Wilson has the Seattle conservative radio vote locked up

The King County Council called Tuesday for County Assessor and King County Executive candidate John Wilson to resign.

Wilson, who has strived to bring a more conservative voice to the race for the executive’s office, has been accused by his ex-partner of stalking and harassment. “The scariest message was one where I said, “LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!” and he responded, “NEVER,’” the partner wrote in a court petition seeking a restraining order against Wilson who is currently in his third term as County Assessor. Continue reading →