The following is total speculation on my part. But several people have asked what the possibilities are for a first-class Metropolitan Lounge in Seattle's newly-renovated King Street Station. Here's what I wrote in reply to the most recent inquiry. If anyone knows more than I do, please chime in!
As you may know, the city of Seattle owns the station, and renovations were paid for from several sources:
Several uses have been suggested for the Jackson Street level, including:
As you may know, the city of Seattle owns the station, and renovations were paid for from several sources:
- $10 M from the City of Seattle’s Bridging the Gap Levy [local funds]
- $40 M from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) [stimulus and TIGER], the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the Washington State Historical Society, the South Downtown Foundation and 4Culture [the county agency that is in charge of distributing "1% for art" money].*
Several uses have been suggested for the Jackson Street level, including:
- A first-class lounge. Rob Eaton from Amtrak's marketing department told All Aboard Washington in 2012 that Amtrak wanted a Metropolitan Lounge, but I suspect that they're having problems finding money in the budget for a "non-revenue" space, especially after building the Met Lounge in LA. AAWA is still pushing for it, but no one that I know has seen any cost estimates.
- A waiting area for Sounder trains. Sound Transit is not going to want to pay for a Sounder waiting room, especially since they have their own space in Union Station -- but the Great Hall there has been rented out to a private company for events, and I'm not sure what the lease arrangements are. But there have been increasing complaints that the platforms are too small, and there needs to be more space for riders to wait for trains, especially in inclement weather. But ST and Amtrak are already sharing space in Everett and Edmonds, and will soon be co-locating in Tukwila and Tacoma, so they might as well get used to it.
- A restaurant/coffee shop. Getting ST commuters into the station would be useful for attracting food options. The location is marginal for attracting visitors other than those taking trains, since there would be no easy way to advertise outside, and there are lots of food options nearby. There's a Starbucks across 4th Avenue in the Union Station office building complex, which does lots of business, as well as Zeitgeist Coffee a couple of blocks away in Pioneer Square. The Specialty's sandwich shop next to Starbucks is currently closed for renovation, but I assume that they will be coming back. So I suspect that potential restaurant owners will need to assume that their business will come mostly from train riders... but will that be enough? Another complicating factor is the auto traffic patterns have been changed due to the Viaduct coming down, as well as more frequent stadium events, and a new building going up across the parking lot from King Street Station. The new streetcar on Jackson Street may make it easier for people to arrive in the area, but that's an unknown, and the opening date has been delayed due to problems with the cars.
