Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle High School has moved forward with a campus expansion in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood, acquiring a three-acre site to accommodate additional students and new facilities. The private high school purchased the property for $3.6 million, positioning the institution to grow its footprint within the community where it already operates.
The newly acquired land is located at 10001 57th Ave. S., where the school plans to develop a new academic building. Current plans call for a 21,000-square-foot facility, providing additional instructional space to support enrollment growth and program needs. The project is a significant step in the school’s broader effort to expand its educational infrastructure on and around the existing campus.
According to reporting referenced from the Puget Sound Business Journal, the school intends to break ground on the 21,000-square-foot academic building in mid-September. The new facility, to be known as the Norcliffe Academic Center, is being designed by Public47 Architects. Exxel Pacific has been selected as the general contractor, giving the project an established design and construction team as it moves toward the start of on-site work.
The three-acre site provides enough area not only for the new academic building but also for other existing improvements. The property includes a convent that the school is currently using as office space, integrating existing structures into the expanded campus plan. This mix of new construction and existing building use allows the school to enhance its operations while maintaining continuity with the surrounding campus environment.
The site is part of the broader St. Paul Church campus, where Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle High School already operates its high school program. As part of a negotiated arrangement with the Archdiocese of Seattle, the school has secured an option to acquire the remaining acreage on the St. Paul campus for an additional $3.4 million. That option provides a defined path for future expansion, should the school move ahead with further campus growth beyond the current three-acre acquisition and planned academic building.
By combining a completed land purchase with a defined development plan and construction timeline, Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle High School is setting up a multi-phase campus strategy in Rainier Beach. The project adds institutional investment activity to the neighborhood and underscores the role of education-focused users in driving demand for specialized facilities.
