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Sammamish staff outline $300,000 feasibility study and major repair needs for Building 120
Summary
City staff told the Parks & Recreation Commission a three‑phase, $300,000 feasibility study will assess Building 120’s condition, community needs and conceptual costs; consultants flagged $4–5 million in deferred maintenance and staff noted the city is weighing sale, lease or reuse options.
Anjali Maier, director of Parks and Recreation for Sammamish City, told the Parks & Recreation Commission on March 4 that the city has hired OPSIS Architecture for a three‑phase feasibility study of Building 120 and expects the work to inform the 2027–28 budget cycle.
“For the record, I'm Anjali Maier, director of Parks and Recreation,” Maier said during her presentation, which summarized the building’s history, current uses and the consultant scope. The city purchased the 30,000‑square‑foot facility in 2015 for about $6.1 million; it previously housed Central Washington and operated under a conditional‑use permit that allowed similar subsidiary uses while the university occupied the space.
Maier said the consultant’s facility condition assessment identified mechanical equipment, roof and water‑seepage issues and placed the range of recommended repairs at roughly $4–5 million. She described near‑term expenses required to make parts of the building usable — rekeying, basic IT/AV work and minimal furnishings — that totaled about $120,000 as of late last year.
The feasibility contract, Maier said, is about $300,000 and covers three phases: a detailed building and site evaluation, community engagement and market analysis, and conceptual designs with updated cost estimates. She described council checkpoints at the end of each phase and said staff will return to the commission as findings become available.
Maier outlined operating figures staff are tracking: “Roughly, the cost to operate the building right now is about $190,000 and the amount we bring in from the subleases is about $170,000,” she said, noting the city has been operating the building on a short‑term basis with limited staff capacity and partner organizations using parts of the facility under subleases.
Commissioners questioned whether the $300,000 covers all phases and whether rezoning work planned by community development affects reuse options. Maier confirmed the contract covers all phases and said community development has placed a rezoning of the parcel to mixed‑use on the legislative docket to broaden potential future uses, though timelines can slip based on staff capacity.
The director emphasized the range of possible outcomes: council could decide to sell the property, lease the building to another operator, or continue with a phased reuse plan dependent on community engagement outcomes. Maier said the consultant will prioritize community outreach methods beyond evening City Hall meetings to reach residents who cannot attend standard public meetings.
Next steps: staff expect to report initial building and site findings to council in early April, proceed with community engagement if council authorizes phase 2, and present conceptual costs in October if the project moves into phase 3. No formal council decision on disposition or capital investment was made at the March 4 meeting.
