Prominent stores are closing, relocating, and going bankrupt due to the pandemic. The Nike store located in the downtown district shut down on January 20, Amazon is vacating its downtown Seattle tower in April and the Regal Cinema theater is closing in February as a result of the parent company’s bankruptcy filing. But the pandemic is not the only issue, several businesses are leaving downtown for reasons including the growing crime and homelessness issues. Downtown Seattle was the first American urban center to experience the impacts of COVID-19, enduring a sudden economic downturn.
The Downtown Seattle Association’s economic recovery report has the latest return to office rate for the downtown area at 32% in January. That rate is based on a week in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Total foot traffic in the downtown area was as high as 88% of an equivalent week in 2019 on Christmas day last year. That has since dropped to its latest rate of 72% at the start of January. Demand for hotel rooms weakened slightly in December, with room stays at 71% of 2019 levels.
A bright spot during the holidays was New Year’s Eve, when downtown hotel demand hit 97%, nearly matching 2019 occupancy levels. Residential units continued their post-pandemic climb in the fourth quarter of 2022, reaching record levels of inventory downtown and number of occupied units nearly 56k.
In 2021, to help welcome people back downtown, the Downtown Seattle Association had partnered with the city of Seattle and Mayor Jenny Durkan to host a series of Welcome Back weeks. Collectively, between the City and the Downtown Seattle Association and Visit Seattle is investing $15 million in reopening downtown — cleaning, art, beautification, events, promotion.
Theaters, nightlife, and showbiz of downtown, are still open and reopening. It is being said that the theaters aren’t going to be full of shows in July and August. he added. Leaders are trying to fill the gaps by bringing music, art and entertainment outside in the parks and other public spaces. Pier 62 down on the waterfront is going to have concerts and programming in the coming weeks.
