The Norman Company was hired as real estate consultants to support the efforts of the Seattle Public Library, its Board of Trustees, and the City of Seattle in selecting the preferred site for a new Central Library. This work involved significant research and analysis of many potential sites and coordination with Library staff, the Seattle Library Development Team, the Library Board Facilities Work Group, and its Architecture Review Committee.

In a collaborative effort, the work committees variously included the City Librarian, members of the Library Board and the Library staff, representatives from the City's legal and budget offices, and representatives from the City Council and Administrative offices. The Architecture Review Committee also included volunteer members from the Seattle design community. Although able to build on efforts from previous site selection processes, the work group proceeded with a clean slate, both in evaluating sites considered earlier and in adding new sites for study. Some new sites were identified by City Council members, the Mayor's office and others.

Each site was studied in depth, focusing on site selection, acquisition and development criteria developed in the 1994 process, as refined with input from the committees described above and the consultant groups. These included: ability to accommodate the full library program, including expansion; accessibility (transit, pedestrian and auto); demographic patterns; visibility; neighborhood compatibility; potential for open space; parking; timing; ease of acquisition; freight mobility; and a series of cost factors (land costs, building costs, demolition costs, relocation costs and impact on operating costs). While impacts of a siting decision on other urban uses were considered, primary focus was placed on what was best for the Library from a long-term (50 to 100 years) perspective.

Data were compiled for each separately owned or defined property (land or building) at each site, including physical characteristics, zoning, ownership and tenancies, development issues, values, access, transit service, dislocation of businesses, etc. Data sources included public records, input from owners and tenants, and proprietary databases. These "building block" data were then congregated for each complete site. An assessment of design considerations for each site, including massing, potential open space and fit within the immediate urban context, was provided by the Architecture Review Committee.

Preliminary findings were presented to the Library Board Facilities Work Group. Based on major issues involved, the Library Board was inclined to eliminate several sites from further consideration. The concerns were shared with the City Council in Executive Session leading to further due diligence on several sites. At its Board Meeting on February 26, 1998, the Library Board strongly favored three excellent sites and removed all of the others from the list of options under study. The remaining sites were the "Newslane block," the current library site, and the "Vance block."

Following the Board's action, it received feedback from interested individuals and organizations regarding each property and further refined the analysis of costs and conformance with the site selection criteria. Based on this feedback, a general agreement was reached that the Central Library's present site is best suited to meet the long-term needs of the Library and its constituents. The Board of Trustees has the final responsibility to make this decision.