As stores and restaurants leave downtown Seattle, there's hope more will return
Office vacancies on the rise in downtown Seattle
New reports show downtown Seattle's office vacancy rate is among the highest in the country, but some are holding onto hope that businesses will come back soon.
SEATTLE - Empty storefronts and locked-up restaurants. You've probably noticed it yourself while walking around downtown Seattle.
New reports show downtown's office vacancy rate is nearly the highest in the country. Finding a 'For Lease' sign on a business in downtown Seattle isn't tough to do. New numbers seem to show there's even more space available now than just a few years ago.
Local perspective:
FOX 13 Seattle was downtown as workers stood outside the entrance of the former Anthropologie store with all the tools to take down the signage. A UPS worker carried items out of the store and back to the truck.
Workers take down the downtown Seattle Anthropologie store sign. (FOX 13 Seattle)
Once the sign was removed, the workers used a saw to break it up and save the 'A' for a worker who'd hoped for something to keep as a memory of a store that was part of downtown for two decades. A paper sign outside bid downtown Seattle a 'fond farewell'.
"It's just a sad thing to say because like I said, I was born and raised in the city and state, and I've seen all these companies come, not so much going, but now, in the last five years, they've just been one-way out of the city," said Eddie Stumm with Devil Dog Installations.
Whether you liked the store or never shopped there before, it leaves behind yet another empty storefront.
"It kind of felt like watching a relative leave, like, at the airport and you're waving goodbye to them and you'll hopefully see them again someday, right?" Stumm said.
Shuttered storefronts along the streets of the Century Square plaza in downtown Seattle. (FOX 13 Seattle)
By the numbers:
Recent reports show office vacancy rates in downtown Seattle are trending upward.
A 2025 CBRE report put it at higher than 34%. That's compared to a 2022 report from CBRE showing vacancy at a little more than 22%.
A report from Commercial Cafe shows Seattle has the highest vacancy rate in the Western U.S. market and nearly all of the country. Reports show rents have not adjusted much either.
People visiting have noticed. Josh Paroski was in town from Dallas for a business conference.
"Seeing empty storefronts here. It's kind of sad, really, because it's a beautiful city. I mean, you've got the pier right down there and there are empty storefronts. The question is, why?" he said.
To add to that, now Amazon Fresh and Go stores are set to close.
A store connected to a parking garage sits closed at 3rd and Pine in downtown Seattle. (FOX 13 Seattle)
What they're saying:
Jon Scholes, President and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, said current vacancies are significant and historic. He pointed to employers taking less space and allowing remote work, as well as job growth elsewhere in the Puget Sound region.
"Our city leaders over the last five years have made us less than competitive. It's more expensive to be in Seattle than it is to locate a job in Bellevue, significantly more, and I think we have to take a hard look at that," Scholes said.
But he also said downtown has a lot to offer its yearly 2.84 million visitors and those who live here, with a vibrant waterfront, concerts, restaurants, arts and culture, and public transit.
He's also looking ahead to the World Cup.
"There's really not a more walkable downtown that's hosting these matches than Seattle and it's a large reason why FIFA decided to be here," Scholes said.
The other side:
There are bright spots, though. The association said there were 53 ground-level retail openings downtown last year to counter 48 closures. Nordstrom Rack is set to take over the former Forever 21 space.
Near Pike Place Market and the waterfront, tourists are happy.
"Pike Place and the Gum Wall and I love going on the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and all the really good clam chowder," visitor Donné Wilker said.
Some shops there told us they have seen business boom, while their neighbors have struggled.
Small, 'Mom and Pop'-sized businesses have told us operating today is more difficult than during COVID, with growing taxes and expenses.
"I feel like we are in an emergency situation now. It may not look that way on the surface, but it very much is so," said Geo Quibuyen, co-owner of Hood Famous Cafe and Bar.
Earlier this month, FOX 13 News asked Mayor Katie Wilson about the squeeze businesses are facing.
"We're going to be working with our Office of Economic Development, other city departments, continuing the work that I was doing during the campaign of talking with small business owners and really, figuring out what is that suite of policies and programs that the city can advance to make it easier to start and run a small business in Seattle," she said.
A 'For Lease' sign sits in the window of a downtown Seattle building at 4th and Pike. (FOX 13 Seattle)
What's next:
That brings us to the situation at hand. Will businesses stay or go?
"Our message to City Hall is we've made great progress, in achieving more openings than closings, and having more people downtown and reducing crime, and so there's a lot we need to do to stay the course and really accelerate the progress," Scholes said.
Stumm, for one, hopes they'll stick around and encourage others to return downtown, bringing new life to a place where signs like Anthropologie's used to be on display.
"If it leaves, I just don't know how it'll come back. I'm just crossing my fingers that it will some day," he said.
So what will fill all of the empty space downtown? That's to be seen.
The corner of Sixth and Pike is about to be a new hotspot for bookworms. There are advertisements all over the windows of a building there announcing a brand-new Barnes and Noble store. It would seem there is certainly an appetite for more growth.
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The Source: Information in this story came from CBRE, Commercial Cafe, the Downtown Seattle Association, the Office of Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, and previous FOX 13 Seattle reporting.