The Arch at 705 Pike Street at 7th Avenue, its glass vault over the street at dusk, under the Seattle Convention Center Arch sign

What is…

The Seattle Convention Center

The convention center downtown. Its buildings, who runs it, and how it is paid for.

Updated November 9, 2026.

What is it?

A public convention center that hosts conventions, trade shows and events. Its legal name is the Washington State Convention Center Public Facilities District, and it does business as the Seattle Convention Center. You will see it called the WSCC, the PFD or SCC, and all of them mean the same organization.

The Arch at 705 Pike Street at 7th Avenue, its glass vault over the street at dusk
Arch at 705 Pike, at 7th Avenue: the glass vault over the street, February 2026.

What is on the campus?

  • Arch at 705 Pike. The original building, which opened in 1988, and the convention center's address. The convention center lists its public areas as open daily, 6am to 8pm (as of November 6, 2026).
  • Arch at 800 Pike. A business meeting and event venue directly across Pike Street from the original building. Events can use either building or span both. It is open only for events.
  • Summit at 900 Pine. The addition, two blocks away, which opened in 2023. It about doubled the convention center's space. Its public area is the 9th Avenue Market. The convention center lists the building as open daily, 8am to 10pm (as of November 6, 2026).
The Summit from Pine Street, with its cantilevered halls over the sidewalk
Summit at 900 Pine, from Pine Street: its cantilevered halls over the sidewalk, February 2023.

Who runs it?

A public agency with its own taxing power, formed on July 19, 2010, not a department of the City or the County. A nine-member board of community members, appointed by the State of Washington, King County and the City of Seattle, directs it. In practice the Governor, the King County Executive and the Mayor of Seattle make the appointments. The board meets in public.

The president and CEO, Jennifer LeMaster, directs operations within the limits and amounts the board sets.

The front of the Arch at 800 Pike on Pike Street, under the Seattle Convention Center sign
Arch at 800 Pike, from Pike Street.

How is it paid for?

Mostly by a lodging tax on hotel stays in Seattle, about $100 million a year according to its FY2025 audited financial statements. Most of that goes to the debt on the buildings, about $1.9 billion in bonds and notes, not to running them. Events and food service also bring in money.

Sources: SCC, "SCC Campus" page (seattlecc.com/scc-campus), read November 6, 2026 (building names, descriptions and public hours); the District's floor-plan booklets for the Arch (January 22, 2024) and the Summit (April 13, 2026), as counted on the Dispatch's Insights buildings page (insights.conventioncityseattle.com/operations.html and /buildings-method.html), read November 6, 2026 (bookable floor); SCC, "Governance" page (the 2010 formation, the nine-member board and its appointing bodies); SCC, notice of public meeting, October 27, 2026 (the legal name and the "doing business as" name); WSCC PFD Bylaws (Resolution 2024-08), Section 3.4.1 (the CEO's authority); WSCC PFD FY2025 audited financial statements; WSCC bond official statements (EMMA); the Dispatch, "Twice the Space" (September 13, 2026) for the Summit's 2023 opening and the Arch's 1988 opening; the Dispatch, "Your Convention Center, by the Numbers" (June 13, 2026). Every date and figure above can be checked against them.

Ivan Schneider is the founding editor of the Convention City Dispatch.

Get new dispatches by email.

Related

The SummitThe Seattle Convention Center's addition on Pine Street, open since January 2023. Arch at 705 PikeThe Seattle Convention Center's original building, and the street address it uses. Arch at 800 PikeThe Seattle Convention Center's business meeting and event venue, across Pike Street from the Arch at 705 Pike. C-STARThe convention center's storefront safety hub at 810 Pike. What it is, what it is for, who runs it, and when you can go. 9th AvenueTwo things go by the name. The street between Pike and Pine, and the 9th Avenue Market, the shops and restaurants of the convention center's Summit. The master planThe Seattle Convention Center's campus master plan, as shown on the slides at the October 27, 2026 board meeting. The boardThe nine directors who govern the Seattle Convention Center. The PFDThe public agency that owns and runs the Seattle Convention Center. Visit SeattleThe destination marketing organization for Seattle and King County. What it is, how it is paid for, and its contract with the convention center.