U.S. Bank Center
The U.S. Bank Center viewed from 1201 Third Avenue
U.S. Bank Center (Seattle) is located in Seattle WA Downtown
U.S. Bank Center (Seattle)
Location within downtown Seattle
Alternative namesCity Centre
US Bank Centre
Pacific First Centre
General information
TypeCommercial offices
Architectural stylePostmodern
Location1420 5th Avenue
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates47°36′38″N 122°20′04″W / 47.6106°N 122.3345°W / 47.6106; -122.3345
Construction started1987
CompletedMay 30, 1989
OwnerEQ Office
Height
Antenna spire607 ft (185 m)
Roof580 ft (176.79 m)
Technical details
Floor count44
8 below ground
Floor area943,575 sq ft (87,661.0 m2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Callison Architecture
DeveloperPrescott Inc.
Main contractorSellen Construction
Other information
Parking989 stalls
References
[1][2][3][4]

U.S. Bank Center, formerly U.S. Bank Centre, is a 44-story skyscraper in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington. The building opened as Pacific First Centre and was constructed from 1987 to 1989. At 607 feet (185 m), it is currently the eighth-tallest building in Seattle and was designed by Callison Architecture, who is also headquartered in the building. It contains 943,575 sq ft (87,661 m2) of office space.[5]

History

The site, between 5th and 6th avenues and bound to the north by Pike Street and south by Union Street, was home to the Music Box Theatre, the Windsor Hotel, and a jewelry store for several decades.[6] A 46-story high-rise, named the Stimson Center, was announced in 1983 and would have been the third-tallest building in Downtown Seattle at 588 feet (179 m).[7][8] The complex was slated to cost $200 million and include a major department store in a seven-story podium that would also encompass the largest parking garage in Downtown Seattle, with capacity for 1,200 vehicles to replace the garage for the Washington Athletic Club. The oval-shaped tower, designed by architect and co-developer John Graham & Company, would have had glass and light-colored stone cladding.[9]

A street vacation was granted by the Seattle City Council in March 1985 after opposition due to its large size.[10] The Music Box and adjacent Town Theater closed the following month.[11] Financing for the project collapsed in late 1985 after several major tenants pulled out, including law firm Perkins Coie;[12] AT&T was also sought as a potential major tenant, but they instead chose the Gateway Tower.[13] By then, infighting between co-developers Graham and C.D. Stimson Company had escalated to lawsuits between the parties amid debts of $12 million.[14] The development was bought out in 1986 by Prescott, Inc. and retooled into a 44-story tower that would initially be named the 1420 Fifth Avenue Building.[7] The city council approved new plans for the tower in December 1986.[10]

Tacoma-based Pacific First Bank announced in February 1987 that it would move 225 employees into the building, which was renamed the Pacific First Centre.[15] Other major tenants included law firm Lane, Powell, Moss & Miller and Callison, the project's architect.[16] Prescott later became the first Seattle developer to court a Japanese firm for financing when it partnered with the Hazama Corporation and later the C. Itoh & Co.[17][18] Demolition of the site's buildings, which had sat vacant for years, began in August.[19] Sellen Construction was the general contractor for the project.[20] An ironworker died from a fall at the Pacific First Centre construction site on August 22, 1988; the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries fined subcontractor The Erection Company $24,500 for safety violations as a result.[21]

The Pacific First Centre opened on May 30, 1989, amid an oversupply of downtown office real estate.[22] It was 21 percent vacant by 1990 and the building's deed was transferred to financer Seafirst Bank in September 1989 to stave off a potential foreclosure. Prescott then re-acquired the building in December 1990.[23] The Pacific First Centre included a three-story public lobby, shopping center with upscale retailers, and two-screen movie theater;[24] the 23rd floor had a Montessori school and daycare, among the first in Seattle for a downtown office building.[25][26] FAO Schwarz opened a toy store at the Pacific First Centre in 1995 and installed a 5,000-pound (2,300 kg) teddy bear statue outside the building at the corner of Pike Street and 6th Avenue.[27] The store closed in 2004.[28]

Pacific First was acquired by Washington Mutual in 1993 and planned to vacate the tower; U.S. Bank announced an eight-story lease and naming rights deal that was finalized that year.[29] The bank began its move into the building, renamed the U.S. Bank Centre, in December 1993.[30] The U.S. Bank Centre was sold to Bentall (later part of Ivanhoé Cambridge) for $236 million in 1998; a 50 percent stake was sold the following year to Emirati firm Emaar Properties for $130 million.[31] The complex's movie theater took several years to become profitable and was operated by Loews Cineplex until it closed in February 2001.[32][33]

The U.S. Bank Centre and Wells Fargo Center were purchased by EQ Office, a subsidiary of Blackstone Inc., in 2019 for $1.2 billion.[31] In 2021, EQ announced a major, two-year renovation of the public lobby and shopping center, estimated to cost $70 million.[34] The new commercial space, named "Cedar Hall", opened in June 2023 and comprises 155,000 square feet (14,400 m2) across three floors. The building was also renamed to the U.S. Bank Center at this time.[35]

Design

The Pacific First Centre was designed by Gerry Gerron of Callison Architecture, who intended its lobby and retail areas to comprise an "indoor street" and a third place for the public. Its lowest three floors included a mix of upscale retail and restaurants as well as a Cineplex movie theater and chain restaurants. The lobby was described as "friendlier" than other Seattle skyscrapers despite its "elegant and posh" finishes, which included marble and granite between large windows.[36] The skyscraper's crown is pointed and resembles an Egyptian obelisk.[37]

Art collection

The public shopping area in the building's lower levels has a permanent collection of works by noted artists, funded by 1% set-aside of the construction costs. The collection includes Flower Form 2 by Dale Chihuly.[38]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "U.S. Bank Center". CTBUH Skyscraper Center.
  2. ↑ "Emporis building ID 119459". Emporis. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016.
  3. ↑ "U.S. Bank Center". SkyscraperPage.
  4. ↑ U.S. Bank Center at Structurae
  5. ↑ "Major Offices, Specialty Area 280: Commercial Revalue for 2020 Assessment Roll". King County Department of Assessments. 2020. p. 71. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  6. ↑ Hildebrand, Grant (April 8, 1984). "Mutual Life renovation shows Pioneer Square is still healthy". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. D12.
  7. 1 2 Iritani, Evelyn (March 13, 1986). "Stimson Center is reborn with new developers". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. B7.
  8. ↑ Schaefer, David (January 10, 1985). "City council taking long look at Stimson Center". The Seattle Times. p. B1.
  9. ↑ Lane, Polly (April 30, 1984). "Stimson Center set for '85 construction". The Seattle Times. p. B9.
  10. 1 2 "Work to begin on the 44-story successor to Stimson Center". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. December 18, 1986. p. B10.
  11. ↑ Jones, Lansing (April 15, 1985). "Lights go out on downtown cinemas". The Seattle Times. p. B2.
  12. ↑ Mahoney, Sally Gene (August 2, 1985). "Stimson Center loses major tenant". The Seattle Times. p. B3.
  13. ↑ McDermott, Terry (December 17, 1989). "High Rise: Paying Up". The Seattle Times. p. A1.
  14. ↑ Wilson, Duff (March 24, 1986). "Skyscraper project mired by infighting". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. A1.
  15. ↑ Updike, Robin (February 19, 1987). "Pacific First moving to Seattle building". The Seattle Times. p. B1.
  16. ↑ Ramsey, Bruce (February 20, 1987). "It's official: Pacific First is leaving Tacoma for Seattle". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. B8.
  17. ↑ Hayes, Janice (April 29, 1987). "Japanese to help finance tower". The Seattle Times. p. F1.
  18. ↑ Larson, Gary (June 12, 1988). "No strangers to our shores". The News Tribune. pp. A1, A12. Retrieved September 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Prescott: Demolition to begin for Pacific First". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. August 13, 1987. p. B9.
  20. ↑ Erickson, Jim (June 9, 1989). "An unsettling development". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. B6.
  21. ↑ Gilbert, Michael (November 29, 1989). "State fined company twice for safety errors in 1988". The News Tribune. p. A1. Retrieved September 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "Pacific First Tower opens". The Seattle Times. May 30, 1989. p. E1.
  23. ↑ Matassa Flores, Michele (December 6, 1990). "Developers buy back high-rise". The Seattle Times. p. F1. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  24. ↑ Lawhead, Terry (December 28, 1989). "Pacific Centre draws interest". The Seattle Times. p. H1.
  25. ↑ Angelos, Constantine (September 28, 1989). "Day care opens in midst of skyscraper". The Seattle Times. p. B3.
  26. ↑ King, Harriet (October 14, 1990). "Seattle Induces Office Builders to Include Child Care". The New York Times. sec. 3, p. 10. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  27. ↑ Bishop, Todd (December 26, 2002). "Zany Brainy, downtown FAO Schwarz expected to survive". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  28. ↑ Frey, Christine (January 20, 2004). "Bid of $11,800 secures FAO Schwarz bear for child care center". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  29. ↑ Matassa Flores, Michele (April 14, 1993). "U.S. Bank to get a tower to call its own in major deal". The Seattle Times. p. A1.
  30. ↑ "Moving day". The Seattle Times. December 6, 1993. p. E1.
  31. 1 2 Miller, Brian (July 1, 2019). "EQ Office buys 2 downtown Seattle high-rises for $1.2B". Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  32. ↑ Arnold, William (November 30, 1996). "Screen test: Cineplex Odeon takes a gamble in downtown mega-multiplex". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. B1.
  33. ↑ "Loews chain closing City Centre theater". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. February 15, 2001. p. C1.
  34. ↑ Silver, Jon (June 15, 2021). "EQ Office unveils plans for $70M US Bank Center makeover". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  35. ↑ Hinchliffe, Emma (July 24, 2023). "Cedar Hall debuts at U.S. Bank Center". Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  36. ↑ King, Marsha (April 8, 1990). "A center of attention — Shopping, dining, and great glass: Pacific First Centre offers enclosed encounters of the varied kind". The Seattle Times. p. K1.
  37. ↑ McDougall, Connie (August 18, 2005). "Tour of skyscrapers hits a lot of high points". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  38. ↑ Donna Tennant (July 16, 2010), "Looking for Glass in Seattle", Southwest Art
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