Saint Edward Seminary

Initial Interior Renderings

Spring 2017

The project’s SEPA was appealed on January 20, 2017 and was denied on March 24, 2017.  The following links provide specific information:

Appeal document here: 
http://www.cityofkenmore.com/sites/default/files/Lodge%20SEPA%20Appeal.pdf

Hearing Examiner issued site plan recommendation on March 24, 2017 here:
http://kenmorewa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-03-24%20FINAL%20ST.%20EDWARDS%20II%20DECISION.pdf

The Kenmore City Council is scheduled to discuss the site plan proposal at the Monday, April 17, 2017 Council meeting. The meeting held at the Kenmore City Hall at 7:00 p.m.
https://kenmore.civicweb.net/FileStorage/6EBC6DE05CAD41F88526DF0D3FBB75BF-Site%20Plan%20Reveiw%20for%20proposed%20Lodge%20at%20St.%20Eds.pdf

November 2016

The City of Kenmore has issued a combined notice of requests for comments on the environmental review and land use review for the application submitted by Daniels Real Estate to preserve and rehabilitate Saint Edward Seminary into a lodge-type hotel.  For information regarding both reviews, please go to the City of Kenmore website and the following links.

 
http://www.kenmorewa.gov/lodgeatsaintedward
http://www.kenmorewa.gov/sites/default/files/16-06-27%20Lodge%20at%20Seminary%20NOA%20DS%20and%20Public%20Notice.pdf

September 2016

The State Department of Commerce issued a public and non-profit feasibility study for the reuse of St. Edward Seminary.  The full report and conclusion can be found on these links.
http://www.commerce.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Commerce-St-Edward-Feasibility-2016-low-res.pdf

 

July 2016

The State Parks Commission will be meeting to discuss the State Department of Commerce Report on Wednesday, September 22, 2016.  A link to the agenda is below.
http://parks.state.wa.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/09222016-99

 

May 2016

Great news. In March, the Washington State Legislature gave the State Park and Recreation Commission the ability to enter into a 62-year lease for the preservation and reuse of the seminary and adjacent buildings with a private party. This enables the state to retain public ownership of the property and historic buildings while a private party can bring the Nationally Landmarked Seminary building back into use. A lease agreement must be financially viable and meet all feasibility study, state and local regulatory requirements.

 

Decision Timeline:

 

• The Washington State Department of Commerce, in consultation with the State Parks and Recreation Commission, is conducting a study of any feasible public or non-profit uses of the building. Any viable option identified needs to include capital estimates for renovation, identified and available funding sources, maintenance costs, traffic implications, and address any potential legal use limitations. The study findings will be submitted to the Parks and Recreation Commission, Governor’s office and the Legislature by July 31, 2016.
• The Parks and Recreation Committee will meet in September 2016 to make a final decision.

 

Link to Approved House Bill HB2667

 

Beginning of project 2016:

Daniels Real Estate is honored to be selected by the Washington State Parks Commission to lead the restoration and reuse of St. Edward Seminary.

Our team is no stranger to complex, comprehensive, and long-term historic preservation and adaptive reuse projects. The Daniels team has won three National Preservation Awards, as well as many local and state awards for our work in historic preservation and reuse.
At Saint Edward Park, we will repurpose the badly deteriorated interior of the Seminary building into a park lodge with 80-100 guest rooms, a conference center, meeting rooms, a wellness spa, and a restaurant and café.
The building’s Romanesque Revival architecture and Art Deco interiors will be preserved and restored to federal standards for the public to visit and enjoy, with an adaptive reuse focus that is consistent with other national and state park standards and with the original design of the building.
The state’s deliberative process was very thoughtful and the public outreach helped to inform our proposal, creating the following opportunities for our state and local citizens:

• Preserves and activates a national landmark designed by one of the leading regional architects of the last century.
• Allows for the first time, public use of the Seminary building which is consistent with the intent when purchased by the state in 1976.
• Respects the surrounding park with no proposed use or intrusion into public open space or trails.
• Adds 9.77-acres to the park with 450’ of waterfront access to Lake Washington through a 62-year lease.
• Integrates covered parking immediately south of the pool building, with an urban farm rooftop to provide fresh organic greens for the restaurant and community education programs.
• Includes community and environmental education space in the Seminary building to further outdoor environmental education and recreation experiences.
• Embraces that all guests of the lodge will help support State Parks operations and maintenance with a lodge fee payment. Those fees will be forwarded to State Parks to keep the state’s wonderful outdoor recreation sites open and accessible to the public.
• Saves the state taxpayers millions of dollars in current and deferred maintenance to retain an inactive and closed building.
• Provides potential education and employment opportunities for students at Bastyr University and the local community.

There is still a lot of work ahead of us but our aim is to keep interested parties up-to-date via our website and other communication channels as the project progresses.