Seattle Historical Sites

This intact New Formalist commercial building was constructed in 1973 in the Uptown neighborhood. According to the building construction permit (no. 549884), the building was constructed for Martin Selig by Chester Lindsey Architects with Howard S. Wright serving as 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), which was the ninth tallest building in the world when it was completed. Martin Selig arrived in Seattle after fleeing Nazi Germany with his family in 1939 and founded his real estate firm in 1958. Since then, his company has developed some of the city’s largest office buildings.

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.

Constructed in 1973, this poured concrete commercial structure was constructed as an office building, located at the northwest corner of W Thomas Street and Second Avenue W. Its site slopes down from east to west and north to south. The New Formalist five-story building stands on poured concrete foundation and has a flat roof with eaves. A penthouse unit is present on the roof but is set back from the edge. The building sits on a concrete base; the base steps down to follow the site’s slope on its east elevation but remains level with the floorplate on the other elevations. The exterior consists of a concrete skeleton, with vertical pre-cast concrete pilasters featuring textured concrete with aggregate. The column edges are pronounced, further emphasizing the building’s verticality. Curtain wall panels exist between the pilasters and extend the entire height of the building, ending just below the eaves. Opaque spandrel panels, tinted the same color as the window glazing, visually separate the floors. The building features a concrete eave overhang which caps the curtain wall and pilasters. The main entrance is located on its east facade within a recessed plaza that extends the entire width of the elevation and one bay to the west. Modern clear glass storefronts line the first floor within the recessed plaza. Rectangles of smooth-faced brick laid in a herringbone pattern, edged in brick, and bordered by aggregate concrete, comprise the plaza floor. Bands of recessed lighting provide light to the plaza. Steps lead up from the plaza to surface parking to the north and down to the sidewalk to the south on W Thomas Street.

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