Hotel owner sues Seattle, King County over drug contamination from homeless shelter use
Aug 25, 2025, 4:36 PM
The Civic Hotel in South Lake Union. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
A South Lake Union hotel owner is suing the City of Seattle and King County, claiming they violated contracts and left rooms contaminated with drugs after the building was used as a homeless shelter.
The City of Seattle and King County have both denied the claims, although the city admitted some contamination was left behind. Seattle and King County have both denied responsibility and have placed blame on each other, according to The Seattle Times.
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Hotel owner sues Seattle, King County over breach of contract
The Civic Hotel was used by King County during the pandemic as a way to provide individual rooms for the homeless that were socially distanced.
King County signed a contract with the Civic Hotel to be used from 2020 to 2022, and the City of Seattle later took over the lease from King County.
King County used pandemic relief funding to rent out the Civic Hotel and moved homeless people from shelters into hotel rooms.
The City of Seattle also used the hotel as a homeless shelter after King County, which was operated by the CoLEAD program and managed by a nonprofit, Purpose Dignity Action.
Co-Executive Director of Purpose Dignity Action Lisa Daugaard claimed the nonprofit prohibited smoking of any kind within the hotel, and these standards were enforced by staff.
“If indoor smoking was identified and not rectified, the person would not be permitted to continue staying on the premises,” Daugaard said, according to The Seattle Times.
The company that owns the building, SRI Enterprise, paid out of pocket to test the hotel for drug contamination. The testing revealed elevated levels that surpassed Washington State Department of Health standards.
Additionally, SRI claimed that within the contracts between the City of Seattle and King County, both parties were required to test for drug residue and clean the rooms before they left the hotel.
The City of Seattle admitted it was aware of the contract requirements for hiring a bio-cleaning company — however, the city did not clean the rooms. Testing confirmed drug contamination inside the rooms.
The city disputed the amount the hotel owner is seeking, believing the list of costs was unclear and not required by their contract.
The City of Seattle also claimed that “King County failed to clean and repair damage to the premises upon termination of the King County License,” according to The Seattle Times.
King County believed that some or all of the damages to the Civic Hotel were caused by the City of Seattle, and had no control over the damages after its lease ended.
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