Seattle Aquarium can borrow money to complete waterfront addition
The Seattle Aquarium is building a new Ocean Pavilion on the waterfront.
But it doesn’t have all the money yet to finish construction.
On Tuesday, the City Council gave it permission to take out private "bridge loan" for $67 million.
The Ocean Pavilion juts out over a public promenade. People walking down the waterfront will be able to pass underneath part of it. There, they can look up, through a big, round window known as the Oculus.
“They’ll be able to see lots of coral reef fishes, elasmobranchs, which are sharks and rays, swimming by above their head as they navigate along the promenade,” says Derek Baker, director of strategic initiatives and government affairs for the Seattle Aquarium.
Baker says the aquarium has raised most of the money to finish the building. But funds from donors tend to trickle in over time. Even the Port of Seattle, which Baker says has been generous, has spread its contributions into 2025.
And so, the aquarium needs a loan until that money comes through.
“Seattle Aquarium is responsible for that loan, and there’s no ask of the taxpayers to pay that,” he says.
Bridge loans are common on large construction projects, he says.
S
o why does the aquarium need the city's permission to get a private loan from a bank?
Because the city and the aquarium are intricately connected through legal contracts. After construction is complete, ownership of the aquarium building transfers to the city of Seattle. Seattle becomes the landlord, and the aquarium organization becomes the tenant.
This week's legislation guarantees that the aquarium's contract to occupy the city-owned building will last an extra 10 years.
That means 10 extra years of ticket revenue the aquarium can use to pay off the bridge loan, something the bank has asked for.
“We’ve done a lot of analysis of our expanded aquarium and what the attendance numbers are expected to be," Baker says. "That’s been reviewed by the bank; the city has analyzed the risk. And we’re really confident of our ability to pay that back, not only on time, but ahead of schedule.”
The private loan will also allow the aquarium to pay off $20 million the aquarium borrowed directly from the city in 2022.
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Joshua McNichols
Growth and Development Reporter
As KUOW's Growth and Development reporter and co-host of KUOW's Booming podcast, Joshua's "growing pains" beat sits at the nexus of housing, transportation, urban planning, government and the economy. His favorite stories also include themes of history, technology, and climate change.
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