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Seattle council committee convenes retail roundtable to tackle downtown vacancies, safety and recruitment
Summary
Council committee held a downtown brick-and-mortar retail roundtable with landlords, retailers, the Downtown Seattle Association, and the city attorney to discuss vacant storefronts, a proposed retail advocate role, permitting delays, parking barriers and public-safety efforts including the high-utilizer initiative.
Council members and retail stakeholders on Thursday convened a roundtable focused on downtown retail recovery, exploring measures to fill vacant storefronts, recruit compatible tenants and address safety and perception issues that affect customers and sales.
Speakers from the Downtown Seattle Association, the Washington Retail Association, Downtown Works (a retail consulting firm), property owners at Pacific Place, Nordstrom and the Office of the City Attorney all advised the Governance, Accountability and Economic Development Committee on practical steps the city and private sector can take to support brick-and-mortar retail in the downtown core.
John Scholes, president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, said a healthy downtown retail sector supports jobs, tax revenue and "alive and active and safe streets," and warned that high vacancy rates were reducing jobs and sales tax revenue. He cautioned that recent proposals at the state or local level that increase operating costs could make Seattle less competitive for large retail tenants: "The b and o tax proposal that was announced yesterday is…
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