The Track Six building on First Avenue South just landed its biggest tenant yet.

Pacific Northwest Ballet is leasing 20,671 square feet in the SODO corridor for a new school campus that will serve 500 to 600 students, the company announced on July 23.

The project carries a $12.2 million renovation cost, with construction beginning the week of Tuesday, July 28, and a target opening for fall 2027 classes. The contractor and architect have not been publicly named, and PNB has not disclosed whether the project will use union labor.

The new facility will be called the Peter Boal Center, named for PNB's artistic director of 21 years. It becomes the ballet's third school location alongside the Phelps Center at Seattle Center and the Francia Russell Center in Bellevue.

"We're running out of space at the Phelps Center," PNB communications director Gary Tucker said.

Tucker said a number of classes currently taught at the Phelps Center will move south. Lower-division students and adult open classes will relocate to SODO; upper-division training stays at Seattle Center.

The lease fills roughly half a floor of the 210,774-square-foot Track Six building, developed by Avenue 55 and brokered by Newmark. The Daily Journal of Commerce described the building as "slowly gaining tenants" last October.

Current occupants include Electric Era Technologies, a Seattle-based EV charging startup, and stone supplier Stone Trend. PNB's arrival represents a significant anchor for a building that has carried substantial vacancy.

For PNB, the school is not a side project. Tucker said it generates approximately 18% of the organization's annual revenue. Based on PNB's most recently available fiscal data showing roughly $29.5 million in total revenues, that places school income near an estimated $5.3 million per year.

Tuition covers only 70% of operating costs, with donations filling the gap.

The SODO location was chosen for parking access, proximity to the Phelps Center, and convenience for existing families and, Tucker said, "potential new ones."

PNB School currently enrolls just under 1,000 students across its two locations and schedules 220 classes per week. Of the 48-member professional company for the 2025-26 season, 43 dancers trained at the school for at least a year.