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.