Seattle Center and Gates Foundation Celebrate New Parking Garage Groundbreaking

SEATTLE -- The Seattle Center and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Seattle Center Fifth Avenue North Garage. The parking garage is a joint project between the City of Seattle and Gates Foundation affiliate IRIS Holdings, LLC, and will be located along Fifth Avenue North between Harrison and Republican streets and across from Memorial Stadium. It will be owned and operated by Seattle Center once completed.

"This is an exciting day for Seattle Center," said Director Robert Nellams. "The work that the Gates Foundation does around the world and its decision to build its headquarters here strengthens our goal to bring us together as a rich and varied community."

The new, primarily underground garage will provide covered public parking to replace a surface lot that was sold by the city to IRIS Holdings, LLC last year and is the site for the foundation’s future headquarters.

“We are proud of the work that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation does and welcome its new world headquarters to the heart of Seattle,” said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. “This garage is the first phase of a wonderful partnership which will honor and celebrate our shared commitment to community service.”

The Seattle Center Fifth Avenue North Garage will hold approximately 1020 parking stalls on five levels, four of which will be below ground. A planted “living roof” is planned to cover the street-level floor of the garage, which also will include vehicle entrances and exits on two sides and a pedestrian entrance plaza with stair and elevator access for parking patrons. An exhibit space along Fifth Avenue ultimately will house a visitor learning center for the Gates Foundation that will be open to the public.

“Today’s groundbreaking for the new garage represents the first step in a project that in the years to come will bring our family foundation closer to the cultural heart of this city,” said William H. Gates Sr., co-chair of the Gates Foundation. “Seattle Center’s history as a gathering place for people from around the world is a good tie with our mission and work, and we’re very pleased to be a part of this celebration.”

“As we mark the beginning of this important partnership with Seattle Center, we’re delighted to have an opportunity to acknowledge those who have worked so hard with us to bring the garage project to this stage,” said Cheryl Scott, chief operating officer at the Gates Foundation. “We also wish to show our appreciation to the people of the Queen Anne neighborhood who have been so supportive and welcoming.”

As part of the joint public-private partnership, the city and IRIS Holdings, LLC will share the construction costs of the garage project. The city will provide $15 million in funding to cover the cost for building an above ground parking garage; IRIS Holdings, LLC will contribute $35 million, which will cover the cost for building the parking underground and the additional costs for the living roof structure, a coffee stand, a parking office, and the Gates Foundation visitor learning center. 

Garage construction is expected to be completed in mid-2008. The Gates Foundation visitor learning center is expected to open in late 2010 with the rest of the new foundation headquarters.  

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Seattle Center
Supported by the people of Seattle, Seattle Center is a world-class, modern urban park. Seattle Center produces 63 annual programs that are free or low cost to the public, and hosts over 5,000 shows and events on a yearly basis. It is home to more than 30 cultural, educational, sports and entertainment organizations on a 74-acre campus that includes 17 acres of open space. Each year, more than 12 million visitors make Seattle Center a favorite Northwest destination, and these visits annually generate $1.15 billion in business activity and $387 million in labor income for King County. We exist to delight and inspire the human spirit in each person and bring us together as a rich and varied community.