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Summary for 413 FIRST AVE / Parcel ID 1989200720 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: 100 W Harrison North Tower Common Name: 100 W Harrison North Tower
Style: Modern Neighborhood: Queen Anne
Built By: Year Built: 1972
 
Significance

This intact New Formalist mid-rise commercial structure, known as the 100 W Harrison North Tower, is located in the Uptown neighborhood. The building was constructed as the second phase of the 100 W Harrison construction project and as a twin to the first, south, tower (1970). Architect Chester Lindsey designed the building for developer Martin Selig and Howard S. Wright Construction Company served as the contractor.  

Chester Lindsey (1927–2003) received his architectural training from Washington State University (then Washington State College) in 1949. A native of Yakima, Lindsey worked briefly in California before arriving in Seattle in 1951. He worked for a series of employers in the city before establishing his own firm in 1957. Lindsey’s early designs in Seattle include the Chevrolet Motors Division building (1960–61) and the Sixth & Lenora Building (1962–63). Lindsey’s career was largely defined by commercial work, designing numerous office buildings in Seattle, and his professional relationship with developer Martin Selig (b. 1936) In addition to the 100 W Harrison towers, Lindsey and his firm also designed for Selig the Metropolitan Park Office Building towers (1988), Fourth and Battery Building (1978), and the soaring 76-story Seafirst Tower/Columbia Center (1985).

Martin Selig arrived in Seattle after fleeing Nazi Germany with his family in 1939 and founded his real estate firm in 1958. Since then, Selig’s company has developed some of the city’s largest office buildings, including the Columbia Center, which was the ninth tallest building in the world when it was completed in 1985.

 
Appearance

Constructed in 1972, this reinforced concrete commercial building is located at the southwest corner of First Avenue W and W Republican Street, at 413 First Avenue W (although a part of a larger site known as 100 W Harrison). The site slopes downward from east to west and this building sits north of its twin, which preceded it. Surface parking separates the two buildings. The five-story north building features a flat roof with parapet. It has a full basement, stands on a poured concrete foundation and has a square plan. A concrete skeleton comprises the exterior walls. The first story forms the building’s base and appears like a colonnade with square openings in the concrete with slightly rounded corners. The square openings each feature a trio of large, fixed storefront windows, with the exception of the bays fronting First Avenue W and the easternmost bays on the north and south elevations that remain open and form a recessed plaza beneath the upper stories. The building’s main entrance fronts First AvenueW; entrances to the plaza are marked by the exterior of the upper stories (floors two to five) is highlighted by tall, vertical openings with rounded edges at the top and bottom. Curtain wall window systems are slightly recessed within the vertical openings with tinted window glazing and spandrel glass.

The building retains excellent integrity and is a good representative of a New Formalist commercial building.

Detail for 413 FIRST AVE / Parcel ID 1989200720 / Inv # 0

Status: Yes - Inventory
Classication: Building District Status:
Cladding(s): Concrete Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured
Roof Type(s): Flat with Parapet Roof Material(s): Unknown
Building Type: Commercial/Trade - Professional Plan: Square
Structural System: Concrete - Poured No. of Stories: five
Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture
Integrity
Changes to Plan: Intact
Changes to Windows: Intact
Changes to Original Cladding: Intact
Major Bibliographic References
City of Seattle DCLU Microfilm Records.
King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.

Photo collection for 413 FIRST AVE / Parcel ID 1989200720 / Inv # 0


Photo taken Feb 26, 2018

Photo taken Feb 26, 2018

Photo taken Feb 26, 2018
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