Seahawks Move from University Campus

The Seattle Seahawks will move their headquarters and training facility from their current home at Northwest University (Kirkland, Washington) to new facilities in Renton. Seahawks officials and University personnel have been in talks for several months in preparation for public announcements. “We have always remained open to a possible long future for the Seahawks at Northwest, but as the Seahawks’ needs were clarified it became obvious that they required more than we could ever accommodate on our campus,” said Dan Neary, Executive Vice President for Northwest University.

The Seahawks moved to the University campus twenty years ago under a long term lease agreement. Under the agreement, the Seahawks were given use of ten unimproved acres of the University campus. In return for the first twenty years of the lease, Northwest received the future use of all Seahawks improvements including 3 full-size fields and a 45,000 square-foot headquarters building. Last year, the Seahawks activated their first option on the lease that initiated the first lease payments; the annual payments are based on the value of the unimproved land.

The University’s tentative plans now include the use of the headquarters building as classroom and administrative office space. The practice fields will likely be retained as fields for University athletic and training programs; there are also hopes to partner with community organizations so that the fields could be available for public use.

“Although we will miss the Seahawks, this comes at a great time for the University and our students,” said Dr. Don Argue, President of Northwest University. Argue went on to say, “We are growing and will be able to make excellent use of the facility.” Over the past seven years, University enrollment in all programs and locations has increased 50% to a total of 1,260 this past fall.

“Now that the news is out, we will now dive into our planning,” stated Neary. “We will engage our University community, as well as the City of Kirkland and our neighbors as we plan for the future use of the former Seahawks facility.”

Argue went on to say, “The Seahawks have been great neighbors. We are proud of them and are confident that their new facility will only help them earn many more Super Bowl appearances, and wins!” The Seahawks have routinely supported student activities, including allowing Northwest students use of their fields for intramural athletics.

For further detail, media representatives may contact Sarah Baker, Northwest’s Communications Coordinator at 425.889.4209 or --.