University of Washington Puts Hold on Innovation District

The University of Washington and Wexford Science & Technology have put the kibosh on their planned innovation district next to the UW campus.

The two entities were planning to build Brightwork, the first of 19 new buildings that would have housed academic and private research facilities and offices, before sharing that the project has been put on hold, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.

If completed, the Brightwork project would have risen 11 stories across 340,000 square feet at 3919 University Way Northeast at a cost of $282.5 million, according to Tradeline. It was the planned inauguration of UW’s Portage Bay Crossing mixed-use development, the school’s endeavor to combine education and student life with scientific research.

“Due to significant shifts in the broader economy, changes in the university funding landscape and evolving market conditions in Seattle since the project’s selection in 2021, the University of Washington and Wexford Science & Technology have jointly decided not to move forward with the development of the Brightwork building at Portage Bay Crossing at this time,” a statement from the university reads.

“While this specific development will not proceed as planned, the UW remains committed to fostering innovation and will continue to monitor market conditions and evaluate the long-term potential of Portage Crossing.”

UW and Wexford’s move came as the Trump Administration proposed slashing the National Institutes of Health budget by $18 billion and ending nearly 2,500 research grants totaling nearly $5 billion. In the face of the news, major research institutions announced layoffs and paused trials; UW itself joined other states in suing the federal government over the NIH funding cuts.

On June 16, a federal judge in Massachusetts declared that some of the NIH’s cuts were “void and illegal” and ordered the government to restore much of that funding, The New York Times reported. On Wednesday, the NIH moved to reinstate about 900 grants that were cancelled, according to Science.

Earlier this month, the school issued an update on the matter, noting that its legal efforts to fight delays in award notices, non-competitive renewals and the issuance of funds is ongoing.

Regardless of whether all researchers regain their funding, the Brightwork project — and as a result, the Portage Bay Crossing development in general — is dead in the water for the foreseeable future.

“The university remained hopeful that the project could continue up until the moment it became clear that with shifts in the broader economy, the university funding landscape and evolving market conditions in the area would not accommodate it,” a UW spokesperson told the Puget Sound Business Journal.

— Chris Malone Méndez