One 12 months into the pandemic, how will downtown Seattle thrive once more?

In the past year, the pandemic has hit the business community in downtown Seattle a lot. Even with more vaccines in sight, the future of downtown Seattle remains uncertain.

Jon Scholes is President of the Downtown Seattle Association. He spoke to KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about how downtown can recover from the pandemic and what needs to be reconsidered to bring people back.

I remember talking to you shortly after the pandemic started and you described how you looked out the window and hardly saw anyone on the street. What do you see today

Jon Scholes: We have more activity now than that. Some office workers are back and of course important employees. There are things that are open today that weren’t open a month ago, museums like the Seattle Art Museum and Wing Luke. The Pike Place Market was just a great ray of hope in all of this. They never closed and had to adjust a lot. So this is an indication of activity, with a lot of tourists there. But it’s mostly locals who come from other parts of Seattle. There is activity downtown, but we sure want more.

The pandemic took a huge toll on downtown shops. Can you briefly tell us what happened last year?

Scholes: We all know that inner cities are about bringing people together. And then there’s a pandemic and we’re all supposed to stay separate and for good reason. So this pandemic has disproportionately affected urban areas in our country and downtown Seattle. So we have 160 small businesses that are permanently closed, restaurants and retailers. Office use in the last few months was less than 20% of those who came to their office for a few days during the week. Hotel occupancy will still be 20% or less in a few weeks. And our main venues: art, culture, performance, live music – were mostly closed during this time. It was economically devastating to our downtown area and downtown areas across the country. Because when it comes to bringing people together, a pandemic has a significant impact on how you function. And we saw that.

We haven’t turned a corner yet. But it seems that most adults who want a vaccine can get one in the next few months. What could that mean for the future of the inner city?

Scholes: It really is a game changer. It will allow office workers to return to some level and we are talking to employers and companies that are making those plans now. And it will allow vacation travel in our country to resume at higher levels. Seattle can rival the domestic vacation travel business very well, which we believe will be the first type of trip likely to return before business travel and likely to return before international travel. People really want to get out. We want you to come to Seattle. And we’d like to invite the Seattleite who wasn’t downtown last year. There is much to be opened today and more is to come.

Some people speculate that this pandemic changed the way we work forever and that many employees may simply work from home indefinitely, which could mean fewer people shopping and dining downtown. Are you concerned about this possible postponement?

Scholes: I believe the office (and work) will be recalibrated. But the office is by no means going away. But does that mean that some people could work from home a day or two a week? That is generally what research and surveys say in our own community as well as across the country. Therefore, offices in the city center still play an important role when it comes to work and collaboration, as well as shaping corporate culture. But I think it will undoubtedly be recalibrated.

If you have fewer workers, then who else could be drawn to the core to even out the flow of energy that used to be there?

Scholes: We are still investing record values ​​in downtown apartments. There are currently more than 7,000 residential units under construction. We connect our city to downtown in a way that will allow people to catch a train from Northgate in just a few months. So there are new ways into the city center. And then we’re investing in infrastructure projects for generations like Waterfront Park and a great new arena in the Seattle Center. So there will be new things to see and do downtown that weren’t there before this pandemic. And there will be lots of new companies getting into rooms vacated by companies that have had to shut down due to this pandemic. We want to celebrate this on top of everyone who made it through this pandemic and that may open up again.

Is there a scenario where you may find that downtown is not recovering? And what would that look like? And what would that mean?

Scholes: There is a lot of risk here. And I don’t think we can take anything for granted. Every great city has a great inner city. I haven’t been to a great city without a thriving urban core. Here in Seattle, we’ve made a big bet on a healthy, thriving downtown area. We have passed many levies on investing in families and education, universal pre-K housing, low-income housing, and a great parking system that focuses on a healthy, economically important inner city. So we have a lot at stake in what is happening in these three square miles of land for the entire city and really the entire region. So we have to get it right and we can’t take anything for granted.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.

This interview was edited for the sake of clarity.