King County Executive Dow Constantine released the following statement after the King County Council approved the sale of Metro’s Convention Place Station to the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle.
“I thank the King County Council for adopting a purchase and sale agreement for two blocks of county-owned property set to become surplus when the Downtown Transit Tunnel exclusively serves light rail. This deal is good for taxpayers, good for transit riders, and good for workers.
Metro will receive a steady and reliable stream of revenue – a total of $275 million – to help support Metro’s bus service and reliability improvements for the next 32 years. As part of the deal, the Convention Center will also contribute $5 million to create more affordable housing throughout the region.
The expansion will employ 6,000 people during the three years of construction. When completed, it will create nearly 4,000 direct and indirect jobs in the hospitality and restaurant industries, as well as generate billions of dollars in economy growth over the decades. This is what making the most of public investments looks like.”
The Convention Center plans a $1.4 billion project to double its capacity.
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