King County announced plans Tuesday to open a permanent sobering center in Seattle’s Sodo neighborhood, aimed at providing a space for people to recover from substance use intoxication, and get connected to essential services to aid in their recovery.
Hannah Kurowski, a county spokesperson, said in an email the building is undergoing some renovations and is expected to open by the end of this year. It will serve up to 40 people at a time.
The “short-term care center,” to be operated by Pioneer Human Services at 1950 First Ave. S., will provide immediate shelter and observation for people who are intoxicated and trying to get sober. It will also connect people with services like substance use treatment and housing assistance to help them with ongoing recovery.
People can walk into the center, or they may be transported there from emergency rooms or other community facilities by King County’s Emergency Service Patrol. Kurowski said that if the center reaches capacity, people who are able to stay at other shelters will be moved to make room for those who need the sobering center.
A temporary center has been operating at the Yesler Building downtown since 2022. Before that, a permanent shelter in the Denny Triangle area had closed in 2019. The vacuum in services led the county to drop homeless people off at emergency rooms who were too intoxicated to be accepted by homeless shelters.
Property tax records show the county purchased the property on March 3 for $3.5 million.
The building where the sobering center is slated to open formerly housed a nightclub, The Comeback, which closed in April 2023. Following the closure, local businesses and police say illegally operating nightclubs continued to operate at that building and others in the area, leading to violence and nuisance behaviors. In August, while the First Avenue South building was listed for sale, a 22-year-old man was shot and killed at a party inside.
Kurowski said the county selected the location in part due to its proximity to downtown Seattle and to several emergency rooms.
“People in recovery or who are living with behavioral health issues receive treatment, shelter and other forms of wraparound services all over King County, not just in spaces set aside from the rest of the community,” she said.
She said the county also consulted with other businesses in the Sodo area before purchasing the site.
Erin Goodman, the president of SODO Business Improvement Area, said the county worked with neighborhood businesses to address various concerns or questions early in the process.
She said the county accommodated some requests that business owners had, such as agreeing to have a staff member outside the back entrance of the property, where people will be brought in, during the day, whom other business owners or customers could communicate with if necessary. She said other local businesses in the area were concerned about the front of the building looking vacant, so they are considering upgrades to that side.
Goodman said after the negative impacts of the illegal nightclub, some tenants in the area were anxious to have the sobering center move in.
“Any neighborhood concerns were heard at the point in the process where they could be addressed,” Goodman said. “That was a really key element.”
The county also has plans to open a postoverdose recovery center this year in downtown Seattle, which will provide medical and behavioral health treatment to people following opioid overdoses.
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