This intact New Formalist commercial building was constructed in 1971 in the Uptown neighborhood and was originally known as the First West Building, owned by First West Building Co. According to the building construction permit (no. 536644), Seattle architecture firm Chester Lindsey Architects designed the structure, with Howard S. Wright serving as contractor. Roger V. Ollenburg was the principal designer and Kelly, Pittelko, Fritz & Forssen were the structural engineers.
Upon its completion the building had parking for 134 cars with about 60,000 square feet of rentable office space on five floors. The building featured automatic elevators, carpeted offices, suspended acoustical paneled ceilings, air conditioning, a shared conference room, and a lunch room with vending machines. The building was first sold in 1978 to San Francisco-based Rosenberg Real Estate Equity Fund II, Inc., for $3.1 million.
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).
References:
City of Seattle DCI Microfilm Records.
King County Property Record Card (c. 1938–1972), Washington State Archives.
Polk's Seattle Directories, 1890–1996.
Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed., Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Guide to the Architects (Seattle, University of Washington Press: 2014), 2nd edition.