(The Center Square) – King County has secured a permanent location for its sobering center in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood, a key step in the county’s push to address the region’s drug addiction crisis.
The new center is located at 1950 1st Ave South and will be operated by Pioneer Human Services.
According to a press release, the sobering center can serve up to 40 people at a time.
The King County Executive’s Office told The Center Square that the SODO building was purchased for $3 million. The site purchase was funded using proceeds from the sale of the county’s former sobering center in Seattle’s South Lake Union district.
Last year, former King County Executive Dow Constantine announced five priority actions to prevent overdoses in King County that included finding a permanent location for a sobering center.
Sobering centers offer 24/7 support to help people recover from acute intoxication and connect with housing, medical care, or addiction treatment services.
King County currently has a temporary facility located in the Yesler Building, which is also where the King County Regional Homelessness Authority is located.
According to King County data, the sobering center served more than 1,000 people in 2024.
The King County Department of Human Services selected the new sobering center site after consulting with building neighbors and receiving support from members of the SODO Business Improvement Area.
The location is near downtown Seattle and key locations that the sobering center partners with, including Harborview, Swedish and Virginia Mason emergency rooms.
Acting King County Executive Shannon Braddock, who was appointed as the county lead after Constantine’s departure earlier this month, has continued the county’s public health agenda.
Braddock called the new sobering center “critical” regarding King County’s work to connect people to drug addiction treatment.
“Together, with community members, partners, and regional leaders, we are expanding access to substance use disorder treatment and creating a safe place for people to go for support when they need it,” Braddock said in a statement on Tuesday.
Other priority actions included in Constantine’s multi-part strategy include: expanding behavioral health treatment, increasing access to medications that treat opioid use disorder, and distributing overdose prevention resources.
Since this announcement in March 2024, King County has expanded the number of mental health mobile teams to 33 across the county; opened a 16-bed residential treatment program for people with mental health issues and drug addiction; and awarded $12 million to 37 behavioral health providers to retain and recruit employees.
