A $1.8 billion addition to the Washington State Convention Center in downtown Seattle now faces a $300 million “gap in financing capacity” due to drops in lodging-tax revenue in King County. Leaders say that without federal stimulus funding, the project will face costly delays.
When the COVID-19 public health emergency halted tourism and dried up hospitality and lodging revenues that help fund the convention center project, project construction was 30 percent complete with nearly 90 percent of materials ordered.