Mapping the buffer: Inside the safety and design planning for Broadway’s Crisis Center

A .25 mile radius around the facility

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Central Crisis Care Center

As renovations begin on the former Polyclinic building that spans between Broadway and Harvard along Union, local safety planning for King County’s upcoming Central Crisis Care Center is moving forward on two tracks: an immediate evaluation of neighborhood security gaps and an eventual handoff to an operator-run advisory council once patients arrive.

Last week, CHS reported on the political process across two mayoral administrations that formed a new six-member advisory group responsible for a crucial $3 million safety and community plan to help the surrounding neighborhoods make a better home for the new crisis center when it opens in 2027.

Here is a look at what the group has been working on, the challenges and shortcomings it is facing — and a critical handoff that must be executed with a new group once the center opens.

CHS reported here on the 2025 approval of the $56 million plan to acquire the property, overhaul the building, and hire an operator for what is planned to be the second in a network of five county facilities providing 24-7 walk-in and emergency care mental health clinics funded by a 2023 voter-approved levy.

In November, CHS reported on the selection of Connections Health Solutions to operate the center designed to provide 24/7 walk-in care, 23-Hour Observation Units for patients brought in by police “to receive immediate care to stabilize and stay for up to 23 hours,” and “crisis stabilization beds” where individuals can stay for up to 14 days “to receive focused behavioral health treatment.”

The Broadway center’s budget includes $15 million for the costs of upgrading the facility and funding the contract operator. The facility is under renovation with an expected opening by late 2027, serving as an alternative to jail or emergency rooms for adults across Seattle’s First Hill and Capitol Hill neighborhoods.

At its Kirkland center, Connections says insurance coverage for patients included approximately 50% to 60% on Medicaid, around 10% Commercial, and the rest uninsured with the levy and county contracts bridging the remaining funding. Under that deal, Connections was funded to purchase the $39 million Kirkland facility and operate the 24/7 mental health care center. Connections says more than 70% of individuals served in 2025 in Kirkland were stabilized and discharged with follow-up care plans.

Ahead of the Broadway opening, the pre-launch Seattle Community Advisory Group (SCAG) has focused heavily on surrounding street conditions. During an April session, members raised worries over “open-air drug markets, gun violence, property crime, and disorder,” warning that without strong post-crisis discharge planning, “people across King County could concentrate issues in Capitol and First Hill”.

To evaluate the physical property, King County hired an outside consultant in April to run a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) study. Initial walk-throughs will produce design recommendations for project architect Stantec to evaluate and price out ahead of an October deadline.

DCHS noted that while SPD, the King County Sheriff’s Office, and the Mayor’s Office are contributing input, an independent consultant was hired to maintain “neutrality”—a decision that raised some frustrations among meeting participants who favored direct coordination with SPD on security planning.

Outside the former Polyclinic facility, the county’s Emergency Service Patrol, already providing “transportation, sobering, and intensive case management services to homeless chronic substance abusers” in the area, launched increased neighborhood rounds in May, covering a “1/4 mile radius around the facility” at “twice per shift.”

In July, DCHS held an open house and resource fair at 1145 Broadway, attended by SCAG members. According to a county report on the event, more than 170 neighbors, providers, and civic leaders attended. Jennifer Winslow, strategic manager for the crisis center levy, detailed upgrades underway at the former Polyclinic building, including lighting improvements, landscaping, daily trash cleanups, and baseline site security. Joel Conger of Connections Health Solutions outlined plans for walk-in urgent care, 23-hour observation, first-responder drop-offs, and youth services, estimating that building renovations will start in late 2026 toward an opening in “December 2027, at the earliest.”

Building plans also detail 16 voluntary residential treatment beds for 30-to-60-day stays, while architects review whether an adjacent triangular parcel can serve as outdoor space for clients.

Accountability tools have been another major point of discussion for the advisory group. Board members argued that an upcoming Good Neighbor Agreement must function as a “binding commitment with quantitative performance metrics, reporting requirements, and adaptive management responses”. County officials explained that Connections is drafting the document to outline shared obligations between the provider, city, and county, with public feedback scheduled for 2027.

To guide its December funding vote on a $3 million county mitigation pool, the group has established a half-mile radius around 1145 Broadway to map service gaps, covering the area from Seattle Central College to Seattle University. The board is reviewing existing private security patrols run by local hospitals and colleges, and waiting on a Seattle City Council study of nearby supportive housing and human services, to ensure the funding fills actual holes rather than duplicating existing work.

While SCAG handles pre-opening planning and mitigation funding, King County confirms that an entirely separate second advisory group will step in once operations begin.

DCHS currently runs neighborhood outreach through monthly virtual meetings, community events, and partnerships with local groups like Recovery Cafe, Peer Seattle, Lavender Rights Project, Capitol Hill Community Council, First Hill Improvement Association, East Precinct Advisory Council, and the GSBA. Once the facility opens, however, ongoing neighborhood relations will shift from the city-appointed SCAG to an operator-run panel.

“Connections Health Solutions, the operator for the future Seattle Crisis Care Center, will create a Community Advisory Council that reflects neighbors, the community and individuals with lived experience that they will regularly engage with once the center is open, similar to what is in place for the Kirkland Crisis Care Center,” the King County spokesperson said.

This overlap sets up two phases of community oversight. SCAG was created through city and county political channels to establish baseline CPTED design recommendations, shape operating agreements, and award one-time mitigation funds before the facility opens.

The upcoming Community Advisory Council will function as an ongoing liaison with the medical provider. It will handle day-to-day operational friction, community communication, and neighbor complaints once the building is open 24 hours a day.

The new, yet to be formed council will also have to live with the decisions being made today by the current advisory group including how the center’s Good Neighbor Policy operates in practice.

Connections Kirkland’s existing policy relies primarily on an email inbox and online web form for logging neighborhood complaints. There might be a need for something a little more robust when it comes to Broadway, Union, and Harvard Ave.

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Subscribe to CHS to help hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month — or choose your level of support