Massive new Seattle hotel planned on Greyhound site

Developer R.C. Hedreen has filed plans with the city to demolish the downtown Seattle Greyhound bus station and build a 51-story, 1,200-room hotel on the site.

It would be the second-largest hotel in the city, trailing only the Seattle Sheraton in number of rooms.

A summary of the proposal on the Seattle Department of Planning and Development's Web site indicates the project also would include 100,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, shops and restaurants at street level, and underground parking for 1,100 cars.

The city's downtown Design Review Board, an advisory body, is scheduled to review preliminary plans for the hotel March 11.

Greyhound has run buses in and out of the station, at Eighth Avenue and Stewart Street, for decades. Hedreen has owned the property since 1995, according to county records.

Greyhound spokesman Dustin Clark said the company intends to continue serving Seattle, and is looking for property on which to locate a new station.

Hedreen has developed several hotels in Seattle, and is currently building Olive 8, a 39-story hotel/condo project just one block from the Greyhound station.

Hedreen president David Thyer was not immediately available for comment.

The area around the 1920 Greyhound station has become a hotbed of development activity in recent years. Schnitzer West is building a 14-story, 238,000-square-foot office building across the street, at 818 Stewart, and a 36-story, 660-square-foot office tower a block away, at Eighth Avenue and Virginia Street.

One block to the north of the station, Los Angeles-based Urban Partners broke ground last year on Aspira, a 37-story apartment tower at Terry Avenue and Stewart Street.

Greyhound's Clark said that ideally the bus company would like to find a new site to replace both the station and Greyhound's garage on Denny Way. The city is considering acquiring the garage site to build a substation to serve the fast-growing South Lake Union area.

Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com