On Oct. 22, the Seattle Hotel Association hosted its fall membership meeting.
We were excited to welcome Shefali Ranganathan and Amy Grotefendt from Future Tracks, a coalition formed by Seattle business leaders to advocate during Sound Transit construction.
Here are a few resources and highlights from the presentation:
- Future Tracks is a coalition of more than 30 organizations in Seattle that will advocate on behalf of the business community during the construction of the Sound Transit Ballard Link Extension. The construction is forecasted to create traffic gridlock downtown and could make it hard to visit businesses in the area.
- The construction is scheduled to take place from 2028-2039, and individual stops could face construction for up to five years.
- The coalition aims for three goals:
- A Thriving Downtown: Keep downtown accessible and open for business during a decade of construction.
- Responsible Expansion: Support light rail infrastructure that delivers long-term regional benefits while minimizing short-term disruption.
- Strategic Collaboration: Partner with Sound Transit, the City of Seattle and local stakeholders to shape mitigation strategies and maximize community benefits.
- Future Tracks advocates for an alternative to the proposed light rail path, in order to minimize the impact to the community
- You can learn more by signing up for the mailing list here, and by visiting their website.
Sarah Dickmeyer from Plymouth Housing gave an informative presentation about how Seattle hotels and Plymouth Housing can collaborate.
Here are a few resources and highlights from the presentation:
- Plymouth Housing’s mission is to eliminate homelessness and address its causes by preserving, developing and operating safe, quality and supportive housing and provide adults experiencing homelessness with opportunities to stabilize and improve their lives.
- Plymouth Housing houses large amounts of residents with pre-existing conditions and provides support to them through social services and medical offices in most of their sites.
- In addition to providing a compassionate source of support, the housing that Plymouth provides is much more cost effective than the health risks that come from being unhoused.
- To learn more about the work Plymouth Housing does, visit the link here.
For questions about how your hotel can help Plymouth Housing’s goal of ending homelessness, contact Mary Lagomarsino at mlagomarsino@plymouthhousing.org.
We were also joined by Sarah Bauchner and Greg Lundgren from Cannonball Arts, who were excited to give an overview of the newly opened organization.
Here are a few resources and highlights from the presentation:
- Cannonball Arts, which opened this August, is a year-round celebration of the Puget Sound creative community filling a large vacancy in the heart of Downtown Seattle.
- The site is designed for large scale downtown activation and offers both contemporary art exhibits, food and drink and concerts.
- They are excited to promote and elevate local artists through its workforce development program.
- For more information, you can visit their website here.
Lastly, Michael Woody from Visit Seattle presented the findings of the “Monsters Under the Bed” discussion from our spring member meeting
Here are a few resources and highlights from the presentation:
- Visit Seattle led a strategic roundtable titled “Monsters Under the Bed” during the Seattle Hotel Association’s spring meeting. The session focused on identifying and addressing the key challenges facing Seattle’s hospitality sector. The discussion was candid, collaborative and solution-oriented, with strong engagement from hotel leadership across the city.
- The following areas emerged as top concerns across all table discussions:
- Downtown safety, perception and vibrancy
- The 3rd Avenue corridor, dubbed the “50-yard line”, remains a focal point for safety and perception concerns. While conditions are improving, public sentiment lags behind.
- Government collaboration
- A disconnect persists between city and state decision-makers and the hospitality industry, as seen in projects like the waterfront shuttle and emergency response systems.
- Financial and operational pressures
- Rising costs in labor, supplies and transportation are squeezing margins.
- Messaging, events and momentum
- Political rhetoric and perception are impacting group travel. We must own and elevate Seattle’s story.
- As next steps, Visit Seattle is committed to doing the following:
- Continue leading the “50 Yard Line Coalition” and support downtown activation eff
- Maintain active engagement with government entities to influence policy and project planning.
- Advance financial efficiency initiatives and advocate for relief programs.
- Benchmark labor data and push for policy reevaluation.
- Expand media engagement and prepare for FIFA World Cup 26 with coordinated messaging and readiness.
- Downtown safety, perception and vibrancy
A special thanks to the Kimpton Hotel Monaco and General Manager Nabeel Toubayly, for hosting this event!
We will see you all at the next SHA membership meeting in spring 2026.