Seattle's Top 25 Skyscrapers Part 5

Numbers 18 through 25

 

Number 18, One Union Square is located at 600 University St and 601 Union St. and is an aluminum clad 456 foot skyscraper consisting of 36 floors.  It is a commercial off building and construction of the building was completed in 1981. Its companion skyscraper, the taller of the two buildings at Union Square, is number 3 on the list and was completed in 1989. 

More information on Two Union Square is found on a prior post.  Not mentioned on that prior post is that Two Union Square has an underground concourse that connects it with the Seattle Hilton Hotel and the shopping at Rainier Plaza.  Wikipaedia lists an alternate name for Union Square as the Zippo building with no explanation as to why or even if the name refers to One or Two Union square.

The One Union Square  building hosts fire drills and earthquake drills on a regular basis.

A health fair is held in the spring for the tenants with free health screenings and massages.   In the summer, a Taste of Union Square where most of the restaurants in One and Two Union Square provide free tastes of what their restaurant has to offer to the tenants of the offices.  The buildings also offer a free lunch-time concert series in the summer. 

Number 19, Olive 8 is a 39-story, 455 foot, mixed-use skyscraper featuring 229 residential condominium units above a Hyatt Hotel with 350 rooms.  It is located at 737 Olive at Eighth Avenue and Olive Street.  The hotel's  address is 1635 8^th Avenue.

The Hyatt Hotel opened January 5, 2009 and the first homeowners were scheduled to close on their homes in what is the largest residential building in the city in late February 2009.  

The tower has one of the largest green roofs in downtown Seattle, 8,355 sq ft and was developed by R.C. Hedreen and designed by Gluckman Mayner Architects, the architects for The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Dia Center for the Arts in New York City.

The complex was designed in an effort to reach LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver Certification with its energy-efficient glass facade, low-flow plumbing fixtures, dual-flush toilets, rooftop garden between the towers, and efficient condensing boiler.




 

Number 20, 1111 Third Avenue is a 454 foot tall skyscraper that is a commercial office building.  It was completed in 1980 and has 34 floors. It is operated by Talon Portfolio Services, LLC and has an award-winning outdoor landscaped area with seating and tables accented by bronze statues by sculptor Robert Graham, and floor to ceiling windows. The exterior of the building is composed of precast concrete with exposed aggregate surfaces and dual-glazed, solar bronze glass.
At 34 stories and more than 580,000 square feet, this high-performance building boasts a timeless glass-and-concrete architectural design and a well-appointed and distinguished lobby.

 

The Westin Seattle is a cylindrical twin tower highrise hotel located at 1900 5^th Avenue.  The 449 foot 47 Story North Tower is Number 21 on the list of skyscrapers in Seattle.  Completed in 1982 is the tallest hotel tower in the city. The South Tower, with 40 floors at 397 feet is Number 25 and was completed much earlier, in 1969. Prior to taking on the Westin Hotel brand, the hotel operated as the Washington Plaza Hotel.
The recently remodeled complex has 891 room, 20 Executive Suites, 6 Deluxe Suites, 8 Luxury Suites and a Presidential Suites.  The hotel also features a Relish Burger Bistro and a Lobby Bar.
This set of buildings is featured as the album art for the Modest Mouse album The Lonesome Crowded West.
 



 


1521 Second Avenue, Number 22 on our list is a 440 foot skyscraper. Designed by Weber + Thompson, it is a residential building with 38 stories, and 143 individual homes. The building is located near the historic Pike Place Market only a block away. Construction was completed in late 2008.
Describing itself as one of Seattle’s premier luxury buildings, its amenities for the residents include a fitness studio, owners lounge, sun-terrace, 24 hour concierge, bellhop, valet, media room, and childrens play room.  Prices for the condos begin will over a million dollars.

Number, 23, the Westin Building is a commercial office building and major telecommunications hub and carrier hotel facility located at 2001 6^th Avenue near the Westin twin towers hotel. It is 409 feet in height and has 34 floors.  The building got its name from the Westin that made its home there when the building was first completed in 1981. It is also home to the Seattle Internet Exchange (SIX) and Pacific Northwest Gigapop's Pacific Wave Exchange.
The facility has a pair of "Meet-me Rooms" on the 19th floor, which are used by telecommunication carriers and internet service providers to cross-connect their individual networks. These carriers situate their POPs within racks spread throughout the building utilizing optical fiber cabling back to the meet-me room thereby facilitating interconnection with other carriers' infrastructure within the building. The Westin Building's meet-me room is the heart of the facility, where buyers and sellers of broadband services offer interconnectivity to their backbones and diverse services without the need to utilize telephone company provided interconnections.



 


Number 24 on the list is the Aspira.  It is a 400 feet tall skyscraper in the Denny Triangle neighborhood, located at  1823 Terry.  It has 37 floors, and mostly consists of apartments. Construction began in 2007 and was completed in late 2009.
Apparently you can rent an apartment in this building for under $2000 month.