What's Happening Along the Seattle Waterfront

For several years, Seattle’s waterfront has been more than a work in progress. The Alaskan Way Viaduct ran right along the edge, making the area noisy and chaotic with cars and trucks racing past. When the viaduct finally came down, it was replaced by the mess of demolition work, which brought even more disruption to the area. But now, after a lot of construction and patience, Seattle’s waterfront is getting a serious upgrade.

On October 4th, 2024, the city opened the Overlook Walk, a cool new pedestrian path that connects Pike Place Market to the waterfront. This is just one piece of the bigger plan for the 20-acre Waterfront Park, which is set to be fully completed by next year. The whole project is costing the city about $806 million, and it’s a big part of Mayor Bruce Harrell’s push to revitalize downtown Seattle, which is desperately needed for both business and visitors alike.

The new waterfront looks great and is drawing attention, but there’s a bit of a catch—lots of the office space in the area is still sitting empty. A report from CBRE shows that nearly half of the waterfront offices are vacant, which is higher than other nearby neighborhoods like Pioneer Square. Even though the waterfront is smaller than some of these areas, it’s still struggling to fill space, largely due to pandemic-related changes in how businesses operate. Filling this vacant space is going to be the key to full revitalizing the area for support businesses like cafe’s, restaurants and bars.

Two big companies that used to occupy a lot of waterfront real estate have moved out: Big Fish Games and Zulily. Big Fish, which had offices in the Maritime Building, hit a rough patch in 2020 when they had to pay $155 million in a class-action settlement. They ended up cutting their workforce in half. Zulily, which was once a major player in e-commerce, saw its fortunes decline in 2023 and is now in the process of liquidating, leaving its former headquarters at 2601 Elliott Avenue empty.

While some of Big Fish’s old space in the Maritime Building has been subleased, there’s still a lot of vacant office space waiting for tenants. Despite these challenges, the new Waterfront Park is bringing fresh energy to the area. If the city can figure out how to fill those empty offices, the waterfront could become one of the most vibrant spots in Seattle.

The pandemic certainly changed how the city and waterfront specifically, engaged with locals. As the workforce went remote, it created a vacuum that’s still being felt today. The opening of Overlook Walk and future Waterfront Park are key to stabilizing an important area of the Seattle waterfront and business district.

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