By Natalie Nagy
After 40 years at its current headquarters, Cascade Public Media is moving into a new building. In a transaction that closed on June 30, the company purchased a 77,412 square foot building in Seattle for $23 million, or $297,112 per square foot, according to King County public records. Childhaven, a childcare nonprofit organization, was the seller.
Located at 316 Broadway, the commercial office building stands four stories and was built in 2004. Previously used by Childhaven as a daycare center, the building has a 6,000 square foot deck and play area with other amenities including a kitchen, courtyard and bus line. The property is also within close proximity to Interstate 5, providing easy access to downtown Seattle.
Cascade Public Media is a publicly supported media station that operates the award-winning KCTS 9 television station and the news site Crosscut. The news organization entered into a 40-year land lease with the City of Seattle back in 1984. However, the organization now plans to move to the First Hill neighborhood in 2023 since the City will not be renewing the lease, according to the company’s website.
In an effort to secure a permanent new home for KCTS 9 and Crosscut, Cascade Public Media is running a $12.5 million capital campaign, according to its website. To oversee the building renovations, Cascade Public Media selected OAC Services, a construction and project management firm with over 60 years in the business, and JPC Architects, one of the largest building design and architecture service firms in the Pacific Northwest.
The previous owner, Childhaven, is a multigenerational nonprofit that focuses on caring for traumatized and abused patients. According to a letter on Childhaven’s website, the company has operated at the Broadway location for more than 100 years.
“Over the years, the location at Broadway, once convenient and affordable for families, became an urban core real estate asset well outside of most communities we serve,” CEO Jon Botten wrote in a letter on Childhaven’s website. “We realized that through the sale of our Broadway building, together with a re-imagined approach to services, we had a once in a lifetime opportunity to scale our impact to previously unimagined levels.”
In short, Botten claims to be putting their “money where [their] mouth is” to support the children and families the company serves, according to the letter.
Going forward, Botten wrote that staff and services formerly employed at the Broadway location will be headed to the company’s four branch locations in Auburn, Burien, Renton and Bryn-Mawr Skyway. Childhaven is also leasing space at 2100 24th Avenue S. South Seattle. While that is taking place, the company is searching for partners and a new location to better serve north and south King County.
