Columbia Center

Overview

Columbia Center

former names	Bank of America Tower Columbia Seafirst Center
location	701 Fifth Avenue Seattle, Washington, U.S.
coordinates	47.60453°N, -122.33069°W
pushpin map	Seattle WA Downtown
map caption	Location within downtown Seattle
construction start date	1982
completion date	January 12, 1985
opened date	March 2, 1985
architect	Chester Lindsey Architects
owner	Gaw Capital Partners
cost	US$200 million (approx. $ in dollars)
floor area	1538000 sqft
floor count	76 (76 & 7 below ground)
references	‡R1R‡‡R2R‡‡R3R‡‡R4R‡‡R5R‡
highest region	Seattle and Washington state
highest reflabel	emporis
highest prev	Safeco Plaza
highest start	1985
building type	Commercial offices
architectural	933 ft
tip	967 ft
roof	937 ft
observatory	902 ft
elevator count	48
structural engineer	Magnusson Klemencic Associates (formerly Skilling Helle Christiansen Robertson)
main contractor	Howard S. Wright Construction
developer	Martin Selig
website	https://columbiacenterseattle.com/

The Columbia Center or Columbia Tower, formerly named the Bank of America Tower and Columbia Seafirst Center, is a skyscraper in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The 76-story structure is the tallest building in the state of Washington, reaching a height of 933 ft. At the time of its completion in 1985, the Columbia Center was the tallest structure on the West Coast; as of 2017, it is the fourth-tallest, behind buildings in Los Angeles and San Francisco.[6]

The Columbia Center, developed by Martin Selig and designed by Chester L. Lindsey Architects, began construction in 1982 and was completed in 1985. The building is primarily leased for class-A office spaces by various companies, with the lower floors including retail space and the upper floors featuring a public observatory and private club lounge.[1] The tower has the highest public viewing area west of the Mississippi River. It occupies most of the block bounded by Fourth and Fifth Avenues and Cherry and Columbia Streets.[7]

Design

History

Development and construction

Martin Selig, a local real estate developer who had recently opened the Fourth and Blanchard Building, announced plans for a 75-story office building at 4th Avenue and Columbia Street in October 1980. The $120 million project, named the "Columbia Center", would be funded by the Seafirst Mortgage Company and constructed by Howard S. Wright.[18][19] Selig borrowed $205 million in 1981 to develop the property.[20] The Columbia Seafirst Center, as it came to be known, was constructed by Howard S. Wright starting in 1982 with a 120 ft deep excavation hole that required 225000 cuyd of dirt and soil to be removed. This was one of the largest foundations for a building in Seattle along with concrete footings extending 134 ft below street level. While the structural steel of the building was built at a rate of 2 floors per week, the building itself was completed on January 12, 1985,[9] and opened on March 2 of that same year.[8] U.S. Steel Corporation was contracted to provide 16,000 ST of steel for construction.[21] It was approximately 50% taller than the previous tallest skyscraper in Seattle, the 630 ft Seattle First National Bank Building (now Safeco Plaza) that opened in 1969.

Financial issues and height controversy

Selig continued to own and manage the building until 1989 when financial problems forced him to sell it to Seafirst Corporation for $354 million.[22] Management was taken over by the Tishman West Company of Los Angeles.[23]

Controversy regarding the skyscraper's size contributed to the passage of a 1989 law called the Citizen's Alternative Plan (CAP) that enforced more stringent restrictions on the size of buildings in Downtown Seattle.[24] In 1990, after rejecting earlier plans for 300 ft antennas,[25] Seattle and the FAA granted permission to erect two 192 ft antennas on top of Columbia Center, which were expected to be used for broadcasting radio and television throughout the region.[26] Though the FAA was originally worried about the tower's height encroaching the airspace, they deemed the addition of the antennas not problematic.[26]

Ownership changes

EQ Office bought Columbia Center from Seafirst in 1998 for $404 million.[28] The New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a 49.9% stake in the building and then several years later sold its share back to EQ Office.[29][30] In 2007, Columbia Center was sold by EQ Office to Boston-based Beacon Capital Partners for $621 million;[31] Beacon later defaulted on a loan in 2010, the height of the Great Recession, at a time when vacancies reached 40%.[32] On August 7, 2015, Hong Kong-based Gaw Capital Partners purchased the building for $711 million.[33][34]

Renovations

On July 1, 2013, the Columbia Center's observation deck, known as the Sky View, was remodeled from 270 degrees to a 360-degree viewing area.[35] The observation deck underwent further renovations in 2018, adding two express elevators and a new lounge. The 4th Avenue lobby was also renovated to add a wide wooden staircase with seating areas.[14]

September 11 attacks

On June 16, 2004, the 9/11 Commission reported that the original plan for the September 11 attacks called for the hijacking of 10 planes, to be crashed into targets including the "tallest buildings in California and Washington state," which would have been the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles and the Columbia Center, respectively.[36]

Columbia Center

Design

History

Development and construction

Financial issues and height controversy

Ownership changes

Renovations

September 11 attacks

Events

Gallery

See also

External links

References