July 19, 2007
UW Tower assignments made
For a lot of faculty and staff members at the UW, the waiting and wondering is over. This morning, Provost Phyllis Wise announced space assignments for the UW Tower properties.
They include more rent-paying and self-sustaining units than originally planned. It’s the result of the state Legislature allotting $3.9 million for building maintenance and operations instead of the $10.8 million requested for 2007-09, said Marilyn Cox, UW assistant vice provost for capital planning. She led a 15-member University committee that considered 40 proposals from various campus units, Seattle campus administrative space and the University’s roster of leased space before making recommendations to Wise in late June.
Cox and Wise presented the UW Tower plan at the regents’ regularly scheduled meeting July 19. Detailed information about the assignments is posted on the UW Tower Web site: http://www.washington.edu/admin/pb/UW-Tower/index.htm.
According to the plan, some 340,000 square feet of leased and self-sustaining space will be consolidated at the Tower properties. To make the purchase work financially, the University wished to consolidate at least 300,000 square feet of leased space, says the committee report.
The committee considered a total of more than 1,140,000 square feet of space, including leased space, campus administrative space, and proposals totaling almost 660,000 square feet.
In making recommendations, the planning committee considered student and public needs, space requirements, funding sources, adjacency benefits, community considerations such as driving time, and basics such as storage and food service.
The assignments include new program space for the School of Social Work, the College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the College of Education. Also, the Burke Museum and the Henry Art Gallery will get storage space.
The Evans School of Public Affairs and the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, both tightly pressed for space, will also get square footage in the Tower properties. Computing & Communications will get a new data center and staff space, and the Office of Research will also consolidate offices in the Tower properties. The Emergency Operations Center, now in the Bryant Building, will be relocated near the new data center.
Additionally, Educational Outreach, whose main office is on 11th Avenue Northeast, will be housed in UW Tower.
The top floor of the 22-story tower, which has 360-degree views of the Seattle area, will become conference space. The floor currently includes an executive board room and several conference rooms, all with high-grade wood paneling.
Additionally, the Development Office Student Call Center will be moved from University Avenue to the Tower property, and the Visitors Information Center will be located on the plaza level.
The move will also bring several related offices to the tower, including the Attorney General, Real Estate and the Office of Planning and Budgeting.
Additionally, Development, Alumni Relations and Marketing are proposed for Building S, which is connected to the south side of the tower.
The acquisition includes several ancillary properties. The Collegiana building, a small inn across 12th Avenue Northeast from the tower, will be assigned to the UW Medical Center for patient family housing. The former International House of Pancakes is vacant but can’t be redone for University use without significant investment. A modest entry to the south side of the building might be added, but according to the committee report, the parcel should be held as a future building site.
UW Parking and Transportation will manage the two parking garages associated with the complex. The two surface lots aren’t needed for employee parking, so long-term uses are being considered. The committee report says the lots might be leased, sold, developed into housing and perhaps a child care center, or used as a UW Medical Center facility.
Safeco operated a full-service cafeteria on the property, but it will be significantly downsized to encourage workers to visit cafes and restaurants in the University District, said Cox.
Safeco currently leases the property from the University but will consolidate in downtown Seattle offices at the end of the year. The first University tenants will occupy the buildings in early 2008.
Wise remarked on the work done so far: “Marilyn Cox has led the UW Tower Planning Advisory Committee with great vision and grace.”
In the next several months, UW staff will terminate leases around Seattle, negotiate relocations, and fine-tune space needs. “Our work has just begun,” Cox said.
