Top 25 Tallest Seattle Skyscrapers

Top 25 as of January 2014

Seattle Skyline - Note Columbia Tower, the tallest on the right 

After realizing there was no way I was going to be able to visit the Columbia Tower until after I have my knee replacement surgery, I spent a bit more time checking out online many of Seattle's other skyscrapers.  The Skyline has always fascinated me since I feel it is one of the most beautiful cities in the nation.  I'd looked at so many of these buildings on my daily trek to and from downtown, admiring their architecture and began to wonder what was inside of them,.  Below is the results of that research:

1.     Columbia Center   

2.    1201 Third   

3.    Two Union Square   

4.    Seattle Municipal  

       Tower

5.    Safeco Plaza   

6.    Russell Investments

       Center   

7.    US Bank Center   

8.    Wells Fargo Center   

9.    B of A Fifth Ave Plaza   

10.  901 Fifth Ave   

11.  Rainier Tower   

12.  Fourth and Madison Building

13.  1918 Eighth Ave

14.  Qwest Plaza

15.  1000 Second Ave

16.  Henry M Jackson

        Federal Building  

17.  Smith Tower

18.  One Union Square

19.  Olive 8

20.  1111 Third Ave

21.  Westin Seattle North

        Tower

22.  1521 Second Ave

23.  Westin Building

24.  Aspira

25.  Westin Seattle South

       Tower

By way of comparison,  Seattle's Space Needle at 605 feet in height would place #6 if it were a skyscraper, right between Safeco Plaza and the Russell Investments Center.  The tallest observation tower in Seattle and the 3rd tallest in the nation, it was built in 1962 for the Seattle's world fair.  It has only 5 floors.

Number 1, Columbia Center has more information available on the prior blog.  It is located at 701 5th Ave, next to the I-5 Freeway.  
Some other interesting things that I did not list earlier include the fact that the observation deck was remodeled in July 2013 to be a complete 360 degree view.  Prior to that it was only 270 degrees.  Now that it is a complete circle and because it is taller than the Space Needle and sits on the top of a hill, it may very well be the best view in Seattle. It certainly stand out in any photo of the Seattle Skyline.

Ground level elevation on the Fifth Avenue side of the building is higher than on the Fourth Avenue side; the part of Cherry Street it faces was identified as one of the steepest streets in the Central Business District with a slope of 17.1%. The height of the tower was originally designed to be about 1,006 ft, but federal regulations by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would not allow it to be that tall so close to the nearby Sea-Tac Airport.  It is 967 feet in height and has 76 multi-use floors.

Although city land use regulations at the time were intended to limit skyscrapers to about 50 stories, the developer, Martin Selig, obtained the necessary permits for a 76-story skyscraper due to a part of the law that allowed bonus height for providing retail space with street access. Because three separate stories could access the street on the sloped site, the developers were allowed a bonus for each of the three stories they set aside for retail, which was reportedly an unintended loophole in the law.  Unless height restrictions are changed, it is likely the Columbia Tower will remain the tallest skyscraper in Seattle.

Number 2, 1201 Third Avenue is 772 ft in height and has 55 multi-use floors.Built in 1988, the building was the world headquarters of the financial company Washington Mutual from the building's opening until the company moved into the WaMu Center across the street in 2006. 
Kohn Pedersen Fox was hired to design the tower while visiting Seattle to be interviewed as a possible candidate for the job of designing the Seattle Art Museum. It was the first major office building built under Seattle’s 1985 downtown zoning plan, largely implemented in response to the Columbia Center, which called for height limits, interesting profiles, and height and density bonuses for public amenities to create a 24 hour downtown. The tower includs an entrance to the Metro Transit Tunnel, retail space, day care, public plaza, sculptured top, hillside public escalators, and lobby/atrium public access. By providing the amenities the designers were able to add 28 stories to the tower and almost double the base floor area ratio of the site.

This building was built on the site of the 12-story Savoy Hotel which was imploded in 1986; however, the architects incorporated the historic Brooklyn Building into the design of the tower.

 

Built in 1989 Number 3, Two Union Square is 740 feet in height and has 56 floors.  With its companion building, the slightly shorter (Number 25), One Union Square, they create an inviting plaza with mixed use buildings.  Both office space and retail is located in the square, including the office of Zip Car, a local car sharing company.
The two Union Square buildings are connected by a fireplace lobby and underground pedestrian concourse to the neighborhood.  A 20 x 30 foot US flag flies above the building of Two Union square..

    

Number 4, Seattle Municipal Tower, located at 700 5th Avenue is also next to the I-5 freeway.  It was built in 1990 and is the tallest building constructed in The building was originally named AT&T Gateway Tower and later changed to Key Bank Tower reflecting the names of former anchor tenants AT&T and Key Bank. In May 2004, the tower's name was officially changed to the current name.
The building is attached to the Seattle Civic Center complex, is owned by the city, and houses several government offices including the Department of Planning and Development, Seattle City Light, Seattle Public Utilities, the Department of IT, Human Services Department, and the Office of Economic Development.  It also has an Art Gallery and a Fitness Center.
The Seattle City Council and offices of the Mayor of Seattle are located in the nearby Seattle City Hall.
The stairs between the plaza, lobby and tunnel levels are unusual and the building straddles a freeway entrance ramp.  The main lobby is floor 4, not floor 1 as is usual in American buildings.
The elevators are divided into lower and upper tiers. In order to reach floors above 40, visitors must take an elevator to the "sky lobby" on 40 and transfer to a second elevator to continue upward. Also, to reach floor 62 or "The Tip", one must transfer to a private elevator at floor 61 using an encoded badge.  The plaza and tunnel levels can't be reached by the main elevators. They also require an elevator transfer, in this case the parking-garage elevators on floor 4; or via the decorative staircase.
The building's three restaurants are on an upper plaza (6th floor) and only one has an inside entrance.
The glass cupola at the building's crest is not occupied space. It contains elevator equipment.



Number 5, Safeco Plaza is a 630 foot building with 50 floors, located at 1001 4th Avenue.  
It is a landmark Seattle office building that reshaped the city skyline when it opened in 1969.  At the time of its opening, the 50 story high-rise towered over downtown and ranked as the second tallest structure in the west.  It was the first Class A office building in Seattle.  The building ushered in a period of tremendous growth for the region, positioning Seattle as a major west coast city. 
The new building dwarfed Smith Tower which had reigned as downtown's tallest building since 1914, and edged out the Space Needle by 25 ft.  Since Safeco Plaza opened shortly after the building of the Space Needle, it became affectionately known as “the box the Space Needle came in.”  It was also widely referred to as “the Black Box.”  
Safeco Plaza was originally named Seattle First National Bank Building. Safeco Insurance Company of America leased the building in May 2006 to be its headquarters, and renamed it Safeco Plaza.


Number 6, Russell Investments Center is located at 1301 2nd Avenue. Upon its completion, it was the largest skyscraper to mark the downtown Seattle skyline in nearly 15 years, and is the city's sixth tallest building, at 597.7 feet with 42 floors.

It was originally named WaMu Center because it was built to become the new headquarters for Washington Mutual (WaMu). Major construction ended in early 2006, with minor construction continuing into the fall.  In September 2008, Washington Mutual failed, and its assets and accounts were sold to JPMorgan Chase by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In June 2009, the building was renamed Chase Center. In September 2009, the building was purchased by Northwestern Mutual of Milwaukee. Russell Investments, a Northwestern Mutual subsidiary, made the building its corporate headquarters upon relocation from Tacoma, Washington, and renamed the building the Russell Investments Center.
WaMu Center was built to stand as Washington Mutual's headquarters, and to move most of its many Seattle area workers into one tower, to streamline operations, and to encourage worker interaction, with a reinvention of the workplace. There is also a private 20,000 sq ft rooftop patio on the west half of the 17th floor for workers of the tower to take walks along the several walking paths.
The tower includes the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) on the first four floors of the west half of the building, and connects to the museum's existing building on the southern portion of the block. WaMu and SAM made an agreement where the museum may expand in two-floor increments up to the 12th floor over the next 20 years as needed. 

 

Number 7, US Bank Centre is a 581 foot skyscraper located at 1420 5^th Ave.  It was constructed from 1987 to 1989 and has 44 floors with 6 more underground.

While it is also know as City Centre, this building first opened as the Pacific First Center. It is spelled "centre" and not the American way "center" because it is owned by the Bentall Group, a Canadian company. 

The building is mixed use, with commercial office space and retail establishments, but it has a real Bank feeling to it with its centrally located US Bank, its vaulted ceilings and its artwork behind glass and wood cases.  There is an art display by Chihuly on the 2nd floor.

Number 8, Wells Fargo Center is 573 feet tall with 47 floors and located at 999 3rd Ave.

Formerly named First Interstate Center when completed in 1983, it was owned by Chicago based Equity Office Properties Trust. In 2013 the building was purchased by Canada's Ivanhoe Cambridge from Beacon Capital Partners of Boston. It is basically a commercial office building with a three level outdoor retail plaza.

The exterior façade of Wells Fargo Center is composed of a six-sided, steel-framed tower that features a combination of tinted continuous double-glazed glass and polished spring rose granite panels. 

As is common with buildings in Downtown Seattle, the Wells Fargo Center rests on a slope. The Eastern entrance facing Third Avenue is slightly more than two stories higher than the Western side facing Second Avenue. On the west side, the building has a public hill climb on two flights of outdoor escalators that were encased in clear tubes until 2006 when they were updated with a simpler, yet more modern glass roof. The building has three levels of outdoor plazas.

 

The Number 9 building on the list of tallest skyscrapers is the Bank of America Fifth Avenue Plaza.  It is a commercial office building that is 543 feet tall with 42 floors and 4 below ground and is located at 800 5th Ave, near the Columbia Tower (number 1) and the Seattle Municipal Tower (number 4). Started in 1979, it was completed in 1981. 
The exterior of the building is clad in a natural aluminum finish with a structural cross-bracing design and lightly tinted gray glass. The complex also contains a landscaped public plaza, 17,000 square feet of retail space and below-grade parking for 612 cars.

Number 10 is 901 5th Ave, also know as the Bank of California Building.  A commercial office building, it is 536 feet tall with 41 floors above ground and 3 below.  Constructed in 1973, it was the tallest building constructed in Seattle in the 1970's.
The building was opened as the Bank of California Building.  Formerly the Union Bank of California Building, the name was changed to 901 Fifth Avenue following the sale by Beacon Capital Partners to Kennedy Wilson Inc. of Beverly Hills. From its opening in 1973 to July 2007 the building address was 900 Fourth when the entrance was moved following a renovation.


The redesigned building has more open efficient floor plans, a modern renovated lobby and features a stunning landscaped plaza, a plaza-level restaurant with wrap-around outdoor seating.  The new energy efficient building includes a water efficient green roof plaza that reduces storm water runoff and provides an urban oasis for tenants and their visitors, The environmentally green concept provides increased natural light, improved energy efficiency, reduced operating expenses and  40% of tenant waste is recycled.
Flood lights illuminate all sides of the tower at night. 



I will be posting more information and photos about Numbers 11 - 25 in the near future.  Check back soon.