U District station is a light rail station on the 1 Line of Sound Transit's Link light rail system in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located in the University District neighborhood, near the University of Washington campus. The underground station has two entrances along Brooklyn Avenue Northeast at 43rd and 45th streets.
Construction of the station began in 2012 as part of the Northgate Link extension, which was approved by voters in a 2008 ballot measure. It opened on October 2, 2021, along with the rest of the extension. Light rail trains arrive at the station at frequencies of up to eight minutes during peak periods and 10–15 minutes at other times. U District station also includes five bus bays served by several King County Metro and Sound Transit Express routes that connect to nearby areas.
Location
U District station is located under the east side of Brooklyn Avenue Northeast between Northeast 43rd and 45th streets, at the heart of the University District urban village in northern Seattle. It is near the area's main commercial corridor, The Ave, which runs a block east on University Way Northeast. To the west of the station is UW Tower, a high-rise office building used by the University of Washington (UW); adjacent to the station's north entrance is the historic Neptune Theatre. To the east is the university campus as well as the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture on 15th Avenue Northeast.
Transit-oriented development
The area surrounding U District station is a walkable neighborhood primarily consisting of commercial space and multi-family residential housing. Within a of the station is one of the densest concentrations of housing and jobs in the region, with nearly 15,000 jobs and over 21,000 residents counted in 2013.
The station is designed to support up to of transit-oriented development on top of the entrances and station box. The city of Seattle began developing a comprehensive rezoning of the neighborhood to allow for taller buildings in 2013, proposing a maximum height limit of along NE 45th Street and in other parts of the neighborhood. The rezoning proposal ran into opposition from locals who filed an appeal to halt planning, citing a need for affordable housing and open space. A revised plan unveiled in September 2016 by Mayor Ed Murray requires new developments in the neighborhood to include rent-restricted affordable housing or pay a fine. The rezone was approved in March 2017, taking effect shortly thereafter, allowing a maximum height of for residential use and for offices. , there are 20 high-rise buildings under development in the University District, including several above 20 stories in height.
The University of Washington showed interest in developing an office tower over the station box, whose development rights were acquired by the university in 2013. Neighborhood residents and activists, including former UW professor Phil Thiel, instead proposed a public plaza on top of the station, citing the dimensions being similar to those of central squares in European cities. The university approved a 50-year lease with the Lincoln Property Company in 2020 to develop a 12-story office tower above the station site. Construction on the building began in 2023 and is scheduled to be completed in late 2024; five stories will be occupied by the university's administrative offices, while the rest is leased for other clients.
History
Early proposals
Proposals for rapid transit service to the University District date back to the early 20th century. In 1911, Virgil Bogue proposed an extensive rapid transit system, including an underground subway from Downtown Seattle and Eastlake to Latona (the present-day University District), following 10th Avenue Northeast and intersecting an east–west line on Northeast 45th Street. The proposal was rejected by voters the following year. Another proposal in 1920 included a "rapid transit on surface" for Eastlake Avenue, terminating at 14th Avenue NE in the University District; the proposal's recommendation of a subway system was not acted upon by city leaders at the time.
The Forward Thrust plan of the late 1960s proposed building a four-line rapid transit network using $385 million in local funding to augment a larger federal contribution. One of the proposed lines, traveling between Downtown Seattle and Lake City, included a station at 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 45th Street adjacent to the Burke Museum. The plan was put before voters on two occasions, in February 1968 and May 1970, and failed to gain the needed supermajority to pass.