Seattle Convention Center - Pacific North West Insider

January 24th 2023: The $2 billion Seattle Convention Center expansion has finally opened on a huge block in downtown Seattle near Interstate 5. The huge glass and steel building is 14 stories high with 10 football fields of event and meeting space for a total of 573,770 square feet. Included in the expansion is a 55 foot ceiling ballroom that can seat 4,000 people. The extension called the Summit Building nearly doubles the space of the existing Seattle Convention Center and will better help it compete for conventions. The building itself was years in the planning and took nearly five years to build dealing with issues such as the pandemic as well as nearly running out of money for the project. The ground floor will half consist of spaces for restaurants and shops with the other five levels for convention attendees. The convention center expansion was all funded by a 7% tax on hotel rooms in the City Of Seattle and a 2.8% tax on hotel rooms in King County outside of Seattle. Location: 705 Pike Street, Seattle WA 98101-2310 Phone: (206) 694-5000