Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Downtown Seattle Association's State of Downtown Economic Report

South Lake Union was mentioned a few times in the 2013 Downtown Seattle Association's State of Downtown Economic Report. The DSA hosts several relevant resources on their website. We recommend reading through the entire report, but for your convenience, we have highlighted a few main points for you.


Convenient Transportation Options:
The South Lake Union Streetcar is a 1.3 mile line serving 11 stations in the South Lake Union and Denny Triangle neighborhoods. The total ridership for 2012 for the South Lake Union Streetcar line was 750,294.

South Lake Union and Denny Triangle, at a glance:


Downtown Seattle Showing Signs of Recovery:

Amazon.com is one of the major drivers of employment growth in Downtown Seattle. In addition to leasing 3 million square feet of new office space in the South Lake Union and Denny Triangle neighborhoods (much of which it is under contract to buy) the company also announced plans for development of an additional 3.3 million square feet in three towers in Denny Triangle.
 

Its presence has a halo effect on the immediate neighborhood and a positive effect on Downtown overall. The South Lake Union submarket saw a decrease in office vacancy rates from 17 to 5 percent between 2009 and 2012. In addition, dozens of new street-level businesses have opened in the area since Amazon started filling office space including restaurants, salons, spas and health clubs. This increasing density of residential, office, retail and services is having a positive impact Downtown by providing a diverse array of amenities for residents and employees alike.

Sources: Puget Sound Regional Council, CB Richard Ellis, 2012 MID Street-level Business Inventory

New Retail & Restaurants:

In addition to dozens of new retail shops, more than 100 new restaurants have opened Downtown in the past couple of years including a number of new Tom Douglas restaurants in South Lake Union...

Pedestrian Count Highlights:

After several years of increase, the sites in the South Lake Union area saw a leveling off this year. However, a site at Denny & Westlake saw a 47 percent increase during the lunch hour.

During the summer waves, 5th & Olive (near the South Lake Union Streetcar terminus at McGraw Square) saw the highest level of traffic in both August 2011 and August 2012.



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