Spruce Street School files $7M permit for First Hill campus renovation

First Hill, Seattle, August 13, 2025

News Summary

A private K–5 school has applied for a $7 million construction permit to renovate the Madison at Summit property it purchased in 2019. Plans call for a 20,000-square-foot classroom building, a roughly 24,000-square-foot rooftop play area, and renovations across the garage, first floor and roof levels. The building currently houses a credit union, a physical therapy clinic and classrooms used by a private middle/high school, which will continue to occupy portions of the site. The school reports about 110 K–5 students and says it will remain at its current location while completing the build-out.

Spruce Street School files $7M renovation permit for First Hill “Madison at Summit” building; K–5 campus planned for fall 2028

Spruce Street School, a private kindergarten through fifth-grade school with about 110 students, has filed a construction permit to begin a roughly $7 million renovation of the First Hill property it purchased in 2019. The work targets a building known as Madison at Summit, which the school bought for $15.15 million as part of a long-term plan to make the site its permanent campus. The school plans to keep its current location at 914 Virginia Street operational until the new First Hill campus opens in fall 2028.

Permit and project basics

The submitted permit describes work on all three levels of the property, including a redevelopment of the garage level to add stair and elevator access, storage, and bike parking. The permit calls for substantial renovation of the first floor to create classrooms, administrative space, and support uses. Roof work is sizable: the roof is listed at roughly 24,000 square feet and will be developed into an outdoor play area with limited instructional use and mechanical equipment. The plan also notes a massive underground parking lot beneath the property.

Permit materials show a planned 20,000-square-foot classroom building as part of the urban campus concept. School administrators have declined to comment on the project publicly but have outlined a long-term vision that emphasizes maintaining an urban community campus while pursuing increased financial accessibility and diversified staff and student bodies.

Timing and occupancy

Renovation work is intended to prepare the building so the school can relocate its K–5 program by fall 2028. Until then, Spruce Street School will remain at 914 Virginia Street. The school has also indicated it will work with an existing campus tenant, a private middle and high school that already occupies classrooms and offices in the building, to coordinate campus planning and continued shared use during development.

Who uses the building now and nearby changes

The property currently houses a credit union branch and a physical therapy clinic alongside the private secondary school mentioned above. The block and nearby stretch of Madison have seen a wave of private and alternative education and development activity in recent years. New upper-school buildings, multi-million dollar campus projects at nearby private schools, and other specialized programs have reshaped the neighborhood, drawing educational organizations attracted to central location and strong transit connections, including the RapidRide G line.

Local context: transit, services and other changes

Proponents of the area point to ample transit service and parking as logistical reasons this site fits the school’s needs. The same corridor has been selected for community services and crisis-response facilities, and the county is planning a crisis center a block north of the school site. Retail turnover has also been visible, including the recent closing of a two-level grocery store on Broadway and Madison earlier in the summer.

School profile and history

Founded in 1982, the private K–5 school traces its roots to neighborhood summer education programs. It migrated locations several times through the 1980s and 2000s before settling at its current site in 2005. The school bills itself as a $35,000-a-year school in marketing materials; tuition information lists numbers of $35,818 in other areas. The school characterizes its program as focused on highly personalized instruction, social-emotional development, and academic rigor, using multi-age classrooms that typically span three age groups and curricula that draw from varied sources beyond standard textbooks.

Finances, access and public school context

As the school advances toward a larger, urban First Hill campus, it has also stated ambitions to increase affordability and expand diversity, equity and inclusion among staff and families by the mid-2030s. The growth of private and alternative education in the neighborhood occurs against a backdrop of fluctuating enrollment and funding for local public schools, where district plans have shifted in recent years and previously proposed campus closures were put on hold.

Community reaction and next steps

Public reaction to nearby service and campus changes is mixed. Some community members have opposed large crisis-response facilities close to neighborhood schools, while others have questioned how a school that lists tuition near $36,000 a year aligns with claims of becoming highly financially accessible. The permit application now moves through the city’s review process; specific construction start dates and a detailed timeline for the renovation have not been publicly released.

How to find more information

Further details on the school’s program and its stated long-term goals are available on the school’s official website at sprucestreetschool.org. Permit filings and municipal review records can be consulted through city permitting channels for up-to-date status and technical documents.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Key project features

Feature	Detail
Building purchased	Madison at Summit
Purchase price	$15.15 million
Renovation permit	Approximately $7 million
Planned campus opening	Fall 2028
Enrollment (K–5)	About 110 students
Tuition	Listed as $35,000 per year in some materials; $35,818 in others
Classroom building size	About 20,000 square feet
Roof area	About 24,000 square feet planned for outdoor play and limited instruction
Parking	Permit notes a large underground parking level; garage level to be redeveloped for access and bike parking
Current tenants	Credit union branch, physical therapy clinic, and a private middle/high school using classrooms and offices

Deeper Dive: News & Info About This Topic

Additional Resources

• Capitol Hill Seattle: Spruce Street School — First Hill project
• Wikipedia: Spruce Street School (search)
• Capitol Hill Seattle: Spruce Street School — follow-up (part 2)
• Google Search: Spruce Street School Madison Summit First Hill
• Capitol Hill Seattle: Spruce Street School — project details (part 5)
• Google Scholar: Spruce Street School Madison Summit
• Daily Journal of Commerce: Real estate/permit notice
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Madison at Summit (search)
• KING 5: Deadly shooting investigated — Central District
• Google News: Central District shooting Seattle