The former Polyclinic facility

There will be no emergency pause in the legislative process around funding the planned $56 million Broadway Crisis Care Center. Officials Wednesday said time is already on the side of answering public safety concerns and putting important new resources in place before the center’s planned opening at Broadway and Union in 2027.

Questions about millions of dollars to be paid to a real estate firm intermediary in the sale agreement also need to be answered.

But there is urgency for people struggling with mental health in the city. “There are very few places in King County they can walk into. Because of this, they are suffering in our streets,” committee member and King County Executive candidate Girmay Zahilay said Wednesday before the votes.

Wednesday, the King County Council’s budget committee approved a raft of ordinances to set up the fund that will pay for the acquisition and operation of the new levy-powered mental health crisis center at Broadway and Union part of a planned $1.25 billion network of five facilities across the county.

The votes keep the process around the planned center on track as key deadlines arrive in the purchase agreement with UnitedHealth Group’s Optum subsidiary. The county’s Department of Community and Human Services said previously a purchase and sale agreement was put in place for the former Polyclinic facility in January with hopes of closing the deal by the end of summer.

CHS reported here on a call for a pause on the legislation from a group of area property owners and businesses.

Wednesday’s votes followed a public comment session dominated by the concerns raised by the group around public safety at the planned center near Seattle University and just a few blocks from the private Seattle Academy middle and high schools.

Questions were also raised about the project’s outreach process and a millions of dollar fee being paid to a real estate firm in the middle of the dealings. Continue reading →