Olympia will pay $2 million for these downtown properties. Here’s why
The city will move forward and acquire three downtown properties after Olympia City Council approved the action during its Tuesday meeting.
The council approved the step via its consent calendar, an area of the council agenda typically reserved for routine times that are not discussed.
City Manager Jay Burney told The Olympian at the meeting the acquisitions are tied to the property sale that involves the Lee Creighton Justice Center at 900 Plum St. SE.
The Squaxin Island Tribe has bought that land for a future hotel development, which means the city will lose some staff parking as well as a site for police evidence storage, Burney said.
The city is also exploring options for moving municipal court services.
The city will pay around $2 million for the following sites:
▪ A commercial building at 424 Jefferson St. SE and a parking lot at 510 Jefferson St. SE. The seller is Ronald Healy, according to city information.
▪ A parking lot at 518 Fifth Ave. SE. That lot currently is home to a business called Olympia Auto Source. The sellers are Paul E. and Lori J. Devlin, according to the city information.
“The building allows us some storage possibilities,” Burney said.
It was not immediately clear how soon the city will need to access the additional downtown property. However, the tribe is not expected to take possession of the Plum Street site until December 2026, The Olympian has reported.
Communications director to retire
City Manager Burney also announced that Kellie Purce Braseth, the city’s strategic communications director, will retire on June 27.
She spent 10 years with the city and 20 years at South Puget Sound Community College.
“You’ve been there for me in so many different ways, and I will never forget it,” Burney said. “Although this is hard for me, I’m so excited for you and all the fun times that lie ahead in your retirement. So thank you for your service to this community, Kellie, we’re eternally grateful to you.”
Kellie also addressed the council.
“It’s been an honor to support your work and to do my part to make it more transparent to the city, because, you know, Olympia takes its democracy really seriously,” she said.
Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne also spoke.
“Kellie, I’m going to miss you around here,” he said. “I’m just gonna keep it real for a moment, because when I first arrived here, there was nobody else that looked like me, and I saw you, and I kind of relaxed my shoulders a little bit.
“Your tenure here has been to give this community a more open and transparent government,” Payne said. “That’s what you’ve done through your strategic communications plan development, creating the channel and app that we have. You and your team have have done so much to try to expand access to the community, and I’m grateful to you for that.”
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
