Image courtesy of Visit Seattle/LMN Architects

The opening of the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC) Summit Building in Seattle is still more than three years away, but the state-of-the-art facility has signed its first meeting agreement.

NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, on Wednesday officially signed an agreement to bring its conference to Seattle in March 2024.

The association, whose mission focuses on the advancement, health and sustainability of the student affairs profession and provides high-quality professional development, advocacy and research for 15,000 members in 50 states, 25 countries and eight U.S. territories, is the first to commit to utilizing both the Summit and existing Arch buildings. NASPA plans to bring nearly 7,000 attendees, taking up rooms at 10 Seattle hotels.

“Seattle is one of the most exciting cities not only for its thoughtfully built buildings and pioneering companies, but also because of the way the city fosters innovation and drives the creative environment for engaging attendees at our event,” said Stephanie Gordon, vice president for professional development at NASPA. “Our group has long wanted to return to Seattle with our delegates, but our annual conference was too large to fit into just the existing building. The addition of Summit gives us the opportunity to design our programming in a campus-like setting.”

The signing Wednesday was celebrated by the team at Visit Seattle and comes just three months after the groundbreaking for the WSCC Summit Building, a US$1.7 billion project that will add more than 250,000 square feet of exhibition space and provide a $93 million community benefits package. The Summit Building, scheduled to open in the spring of 2022, is located within two blocks of the existing Arch Building, creating a campus environment for meetings and events. The two facilities combined will offer over 820,000 square feet of meeting space.

“This building’s strategic location connects neighborhoods to downtown Seattle and to the convention center’s offerings,” said Frank Finneran, WSCC board chair. “Having the first agreement signed for 2024 is extremely gratifying since the project has required the collective effort of many people. We are excited about the facility’s capacity to bring not only more meetings and conventions to Seattle but more jobs and opportunities to the people who call Seattle home.” 

The city will also welcome a new major hotel by the end of the year with the opening of Seattle’s largest hotel, the Hyatt Regency Seattle. By the end of the year, a total of seven new properties will increase the city’s hotel supply by 20 percent, adding more than 2,200 rooms to push the downtown room count to more than 14,160.

Construction of the Summit Building is a boon for local jobs as well, resulting in as many as 6,000 union positions during the next three years. After opening, Summit is estimated to create 3,900 new, permanent jobs across the region. 

The new facility will enable Seattle to build its meeting and event portfolio. The city has turned away more than 350 event proposals in the past five years because dates were unavailable due to lack of space or timing constraints at the existing Arch Building, costing the region more than $2.13 billion in potential economic benefit.

When completed, the Summit Building is expected to drive more than 400,000 new conventioneers to the city and generate more than $19 million in tax revenue each year by bringing demand year-round to hotels, attractions, local restaurants and retailers, performing arts centers and cultural sites.

“Meetings mean business in Washington and our convention center’s Arch and Summit buildings are an economic catalyst for Seattle as we now have the ability to fulfill excess demand for meeting space in our city,” Visit Seattle President and CEO Tom Norwalk said. “Thoughtfully designed and centered in the heart of our downtown, both buildings will provide an atmosphere that fosters future innovation.” 

The names of the building were carefully considered. The existing Arch facility emulates the Seattle’s famous sky bridge and canopy arch that bridges the facility along Pike Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue. The Summit is a nod to Seattle’s geography and dramatic staircase in the design.