Kent City Council approves $63.5 million campus relocation project

Published 4:16 pm Monday, September 8, 2025

With descriptions such as “a historic moment” and “generational investments,” Kent city leaders unanimously approved a $63.5 million Municipal Campus Relocation Project.

The 7-0 vote by the Kent Council on Sept. 2 begins a three-year process that will include:

• New remodeled offices (81,000 square feet) at the CenterPoint Corporate Park, 20610 68th Ave. S., in North Kent at a former Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU) call center. Currently the city refers to it as the Administrative Services Building. The city purchased the property for $11.25 million in October 2024. It will house Public Works, Parks, Economic and Community Development, Finance and the Mayor’s offices. Those departments are now in the Centennial Center or City Hall. The estimated opening is late 2026 or early 2027.

• A remodeled Centennial Center, 400 W. Gowe St., that will be the new Kent Police Department headquarters. Renovation will include the parking garage that will house police vehicles. Estimated to be ready in summer or fall of 2028.

• A full interior renovation of the current police facility into the new home of Council Chambers, which also will include a council work session room, council member offices and a public meeting space.

• Demolition of current City Hall, 220 Fourth Ave. S., to be replaced with a new civic plaza and gathering space. The date of the demolition is to be determined.

“This is a historic moment,” City Councilmember Zandria Michaud said after the vote to approve the resolution. “This will set the city up for future generations and set up staff for success for years to come. This is the right and necessary thing to do to support our staff, council and our residents.”

Mayor Dana Ralph described the project as “becoming very real and exciting,” as the process begins.

“Council, thank you very, very much for taking this action,” Ralph said. “These are generational investments. The action you have taken, buying the building last year and your actions tonight ,will make a difference how we serve our community for our kids and their kids. It’s a bold step and a brave step and something I am very, very grateful for.”

City leaders over the past few years looked into renovation of the current City Hall, but studies found it too expensive to repair with major work necessary and it wouldn’t increase the needed extra space. City leaders also have wanted a new police headquarters for many years and submitted a $34 million property tax measure to voters in 2014 that failed to get the 60% approval needed.

City Hall was built in 1971. The Police Department is in a 51-year-old building where it moved to in 1991 as a temporary space. The department now has 170 officers.

“They’re still there and they have outgrown the facility,” said Parks Director Julie Parascondola, who helps oversee city facilities, in a presentation to the council. “They outgrew it 20 years ago.”

In a few years, every city employee will have a new home away from home. The city has about 750 employees.

The city hired ARC Architects of Seattle for the design work. New York-based Skanska, with a regional office in Seattle and 28 offices across the nation, will do the preconstruction services and general contractor/construction work.

Administrative Services Building

The former BECU call center was not welcoming or inviting so the city will perform a full interior renovation, said Tanyan Farley, a representative from the city’s consultant on the project, The Athenian Group, based in Houston, Texas.

The council approved a $2.4 million contract with The Athenian Group on March 18 to support the city with program management and advisory services to help guide planning, communications and delivery of the Municipal Relocation Project.

Farley said the renovation will transform a corporate office to municipal location where the public can come and work with city.

Centennial Center

Farley said the new police headquarters at the four-story Centennial Center will give the department ample space for the move in and for growth over the next 20 to 30 years.

It will include a public lobby space where people can make record requests. The department will occupy all four floors of the building, the annex in back of it and the garage.

“It will bring functions together that are separated now between the Centennial Center and the current facility,” Farley said.

The building will allow for sufficient space to house officers, detectives, and specialty units, as well as provide space for investigative interview rooms, evidence storage and training.

Civic plaza

Once City Hall is demolished, it will be replaced with a civic plaza.

A plaza will help maintain the city’s presence in the downtown core, Farley said. The police department and Council Chambers will be next door and the plaza will be a spot for community gatherings and events.

Funding

The city will fund the purchase of the municipal building and the conversion of the Centennial Center through existing capital funds and the issuance of bonds. The bond issue will be repaid over 30 years from existing funding resources within the city’s capital resource fund, which is a funding source different than that used for ongoing general funding of police and other staff.

The total budget of the project is $63.5 million, which includes the purchase of the former BECU office for $11.25 million.

A total of $12.7 million in budget costs already was budgeted or has incurred. About $11.4 million of that was reallocated from other projects through efficiencies or projects to fix that no longer are needed, said Michelle Ferguson, city assistant finance director, in a report to the council.

The remaining $50.7 million will be funded by a general fund contribution of $8.3 million and a limited tax general obligation bond proceed of about $51.5 million approved Sept. 4 by the council, according to city documents.

The council also approved a $5.5 million bond for the Kent East Hill Operations Center now under construction. Bond proceeds will replace the $5.5 million used from the capital resources fund.

In addtion, the council approved extending the sales tax levy for the accesso ShoWare Center bond to 55 years from 40 years so long as the debt is covered by the existing state sales tax revenue, which comes in at about $1.4 million per year, which has been enough to cover the debt. That state sales tax revenue to the city’s Public Facilities District is used to pay a portion of the 2016 limited tax general obligation bonds.

The city finance director will provide a report next May or June to the council describing the final terms of the new money bond issuance and refunding.

The finance director will create a debt service account(s) to budget the principal and interest payments owed on the bonds, along with authorizing the transfer in of sufficient money from the applicable funds to cover the debt service payments.