A rendering of part of the future Waterfront Park including Overlook Walk. Image by Field Operations courtesy of the City of Seattle.
Request for Proposals: Overlook Walk Cafe
Friends of Waterfront Seattle and Seattle Center are seeking a food and beverage tenant for a premier space currently being constructed at Waterfront Park, opening 2025.
Applications are no longer being accepted. New information will be posted here as it becomes available.
(Last updated: 9/1/2024)
A rendering of part of the future Waterfront Park including Overlook Walk. Image by Field Operations courtesy of the City of Seattle.
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Image by James Corner Field Operations courtesy of the City of Seattle
Project Overview
For 65 years, the Alaskan Way Viaduct separated downtown from the shoreline. With its removal, city leaders recognized an unprecedented opportunity to create new green space in the heart of our city, achieving lasting economic, social, and environmental value. Planning began in 2010 with more than 400 public meetings, visioning sessions, and environmental reviews. The result is the vision for Waterfront Park, 20-acres of public space stretching north- south from Belltown to Pioneer Square, that will serve as:
- An invitation to reconnect to the water, to the mountains, to our city, and to one another
- A new cultural hub, created in partnership with local nonprofits to deliver a full suite of free arts, recreation, and education programs at Pier 62. Partnerships will expand as Overlook Walk and Pier 58 are completed.
- A place to share the stories that illuminate the multiple histories and cultures that define Seattle and must shape its future.
- A safe and welcoming public space created through active programming, a 24/7/365 on-site ambassador team to support positive activity and discourage crime, and compassionately connect people in need to social services and resources.
- A green waterfront that will add 700 new trees and 140,000 shrubs and native plants to support the nearshore habitat and serve as a massive filtration system to remove pollutants from stormwater before it enters the sound. Seattle’s new seawall has been supporting healthy marine life and the migration of juvenile salmon since it was completed in 2017.
- An economic accelerator – in addition to a one-time overall economic impact of $1.1B from construction, Waterfront Park is expected to generate $317M in new visitor spending annually.
A rendering of part of the future Waterfront Park including Overlook Walk. Image by Field Operations courtesy of the City of Seattle.
About Overlook Walk
Overlook Walk is part of the greater Waterfront Park project that serves as a link between Seattle’s waterfront and urban core. This elevated pathway will connect pedestrians from Pike Place Market to the waterfront, offering panoramic views of Elliott Bay. The park will feature informal play areas, inviting public plazas, and thoughtfully designed landscaping, providing an enriching and enjoyable experience for visitors. One of the main features of Overlook Walk is the new cafe location that will host a local food and beverage concessionaire starting in 2025.
When Overlook Walk and café open, park visitors are estimated to grow from 6,000,000 to 14,000,000 annually.
Overlook Walk Cafe Overview:
- Waterfront Park hours of operation 7:00am—10:00pm daily (prospective applicant to propose café business hours)
- Café Lease Space: 1,326 SF
- Restrooms: 126 SF
- Service/Mechanical Room: 54 SF
- Canopy Space: Approximately 3,050 SF- non-exclusive use
- Additional specifications listed below and information packet available after signed NDA is received
Term details
Applicants shall include desired contract terms in their proposal. Friends will discuss contract terms with finalists during the selection process. Applicants to propose concessionaire rate plus percentage of sales commission in their submission.
Render of the Overlook Walk Cafe by Field Operations. Courtesy of the City of Seattle.
Image by James Corner Field Operations courtesy of the City of Seattle
Project Partners
Friends of Waterfront Seattle is the nonprofit partner established to raise philanthropic funds to build and support park operations, public safety, programming. Friends’ goal is to realize the public’s vision for a waterfront where all communities can share cultural, recreational, and civic experiences in a safe, beautiful environment.
Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects was created when the City of Seattle launched “Waterfront Seattle” – a multi-year program to plan, design, and ultimately build the new waterfront – working intensively with civic leaders, waterfront stakeholders, and the broader Seattle public.
Seattle Center is the City department that is responsible for Waterfront Park operations in maintenance, landscaping, and public safety in partnership with Friends of Waterfront Seattle.
Rendering by Field Operations, courtesy of the City of Seattle.
Project Scope
Applicants should appropriately identify and establish characteristics of the consumers of the waterfront food and beverage market – both locals and visitors. The application should outline mutually beneficial relationships with the public at large, members of the public, neighborhood developers, existing and future concessionaires and retailers, the daytime workforce, business and leisure travelers, users of Waterfront Park, and the residential population.
The food and beverage concessionaire needs to be driven by current and anticipated market scenarios. Operational considerations should include market fit to demographics of the Seattle Waterfront as a regional retail and lifestyle destination, and feasibility within the neighborhood ecosystem of other retail businesses through which a shopper can make purchases.
Image by Field Operations courtesy of the City of Seattle
Tenant Requirements
The concessionaire needs to have extensive knowledge of and experience in the food and beverage industry. These qualifications, and the ability to clearly communicate them, will be criteria for selection:
- Food & Beverage Experience: Extensive knowledge and experience running a F&B business that has market fit for this new property. A proven network of vendor suppliers.
- Customer Understanding: Clear understanding of who customers will be for this property and extensive hospitality and guest service experience.
- Current Day Financial Strength: Strong balance sheets that demonstrate capacity to fund the tenant improvements and start-up costs.
- Long-Term Financial Success: Shows the financials needed for long-term success at property (profit loss statements, break-even point, cash flow projections by month, capital raised, etc.).
- Operationalized Equity & Social Justice: Shows actions and experience in doing business above standard to be equitable and socially just in business operations. Shows how economic opportunities are provided to Black, Indigenous and People of Color populations. Examples can include labor strategy, wages, benefits, etc.
- Partnership engagement: Demonstrated direct or related experience collaborating across private, non-profit, governmental agencies, and other key stakeholders.
- Downtown Seattle: Experience that demonstrates an ability to work in a multicultural, downtown environment.
- Benefit to local public life: Exemplifies how business will improve public life in the neighborhood.
- Environmental Sustainability: Shows thought around ideas and practices in areas such as waste management, energy efficiency, and sustainable sourcing. Consider how to minimize the environmental footprint of the cafe and contribute to the overall sustainability goals of the park.
- Ability to Manage Seasonality: Like all parks in the Pacific Northwest, Waterfront Park is subject to fluctuations in visitorship based on seasons. In addition, other influences that may increase visitorship may include weather, cruise season, holiday seasons, and the aquarium expansion, scheduled to open summer 2024.
Applications are no longer being accepted. New information will be posted as it becomes available
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Please review the Request For Proposals document fully before applying.
Step 1: Applicants must submit their intent to apply by April 9th.
Upon completing the Intent to Apply form, you will be asked to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before being able to apply, receive additional information about the project (architectural specifications), or before questions with potentially proprietary information can be answered. If you have any initial questions about the process or about the RFP, please include it in this form. You will have opportunities to ask additional questions after receiving the materials and at the site tour.
Step 2: Once your NDA is signed, you will receive application materials. Please then send your complete application materials to [email protected] by April 19, 2024 no later than 5:00pm PST. Only complete applications will be considered. The required application materials can be found in the RFP document.
If you have NOT filled out the intent to apply form AND completed the Non-Disclosure Agreement that was sent to you via DocuSign, your application will not be considered.
You may submit applications in a word document, PDF, spreadsheet, or other accessible digital format.
Review Process and Criteria
As we anticipate project completion, there is a critical need for embedding community visions, values, and perspectives to ensure that all communities will be able to take advantage of emerging opportunities along the waterfront. Integrating community feedback in the selection process is an important step to ensure that the platform provides equitable opportunities for all prospective tenants.
Submissions will be reviewed by Friends and then applications will be evaluated by a selection committee comprised of community representatives.
Applicants that are selected for interview rounds may be asked to provide a tasting of proposed menu items.
Supporting Documents
For more information on Overlook Walk, please visit the Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects website or download their Seattle Design Commission presentation.
20-acres of public space will transform the iconic Seattle waterfront. Photo by Jason Merges.
Vendor Newsletter
Thank you for your consideration! Be sure to subscribe to our Vendor Newsletter to learn more about future vending opportunities at Waterfront Park and in our community.