South Annex parking lot no longer available

Starting from February 3rd, 2020, South Annex building’s parking lot can no longer be utilized with the school’s parking permit. It used to be part of the South Annex building and while the building hasn’t been used for a while, students were still able to use the parking space of South Annex–up until the end of January, that is. The two buildings of South Annex and the adjoining parking lot were sold to a consortium of Capitol Hill Housing and YouthCare. 

As stated in the legislative agreement for the building, this property can only be sold for the purpose of developing low income affordable housing or providing services to homeless youth. Although the parking lot next to South Annex is gone, students can still park in the existing parking spaces at Harvard garage and the space between (SAM) building and the Light Rail station. The college moved the International Programs and various student service offices out of the South Annex buildings several years ago, and relocated them into the Broadway/Edison building.  

 “The two buildings in the South Annex are over one hundred years old, expensive to operate and not well-suited to modern instruction techniques. As such, they were declared surplus to the long-term needs of the college,” says Lincoln Ferris, Interim Vice President of Administrative Services. “We are seeking to minimize the number of street-crossing students to and from classes.”

Jeff Keever, the manager of the campus’ Auxiliary Services also adds that “since the policies prohibit overnight parking on campus for students, students are not allowed to park after 10 p.m.” It is also stated in Washington State Legislature that “student parking permits are not valid during the non-operating hours of each campus. Any vehicle that displays a student permit while parked on campus during the non-operating hours of the campus may be subject to parking fines and/or impoundment.” The school has plans for generating a more sizable budget, “but at this time, there’s no more plans to sell school properties” Ferris added.