News
Historic Cornish College Building For Sale
Kerry Hall was the original home of college founder Nellie Cornish
By Rob Smith April 9, 2024
The former home of a Seattle visionary is for sale.
The historic Kerry Hall building, at 710 E. Roy St. in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, was built in 1921 and was the home of Nellie Cornish, who founded the arts college in 1914 and ran it for 25 years. The college was formed in the building and has occupied it since then.
The planned sale will complete Cornish’s longtime plan to unify its campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood. Most Cornish classes are now held in its Main Campus Center and other buildings in the Denny Way and Boren Avenue areas.
“The sale of Kerry Hall will bring dance and music classes to our main campus, allowing students to better utilize the cross-disciplinary opportunities that make a Cornish education unique,” says Cornish College of the Arts President Raymond Tymas-Jones. “It also immerses developing artists in the heart of Seattle’s technology scene, where creativity meets innovation.”
Cornish will reinvest proceeds from the sale, which is being managed by CBRE, into existing facilities and operations. Enrollment is expected to exceed 530 students in the 2024-2025 school year, higher than it was prior to the pandemic.
Kerry Hall, a 31,900-square-foot building, includes classrooms, studios, rehearsal space, and a large performance venue. It is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
