| Historic Name: |
Glaser Building/New Latona Hotel |
Common Name: |
Ace Hotel |
| Style: |
Queen Anne - Richardsonian Romanesque |
Neighborhood: |
Belltown |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1909 |
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| Significance |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
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This building, built in 1909, is a good example of the mixed-use hotel/apartment building typical of those that provided affordable housing for both transients and downtown workers. Originally known as the Glaser Building (the name that remains on the façade), it was operated as the New Latona Hotel for several decades. The Sunset Tavern was on the first floor. It was renovated in 1998 and is currently a boutique hotel with a restaurant on the first floor. The exterior of the building has been restored with a high degree of integrity.
This building is the one of the most intact of the workers hotels that lined First Avenue after Denny Hill was regraded. The hill blocked the city’s northward progress it was regarded (between 1898 and 1911) and opened up for development to meet the city’s critical housing need. In only twenty years, Seattle’s population had exploded from 80,671 (1900) to 315,312 (1920). Belltown quickly became a concentrated residential area, with two distinct types of buildings. Workers’ hotels like this one, often without individual bath and cooking facilities, lined First Avenue. Elsewhere were numerous 3- to 8-story buildings filled primarily with efficiency apartments for sales clerks, clerical staff and other downtown workers.
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| Appearance |
| The Glaser Building is of solid brick construction, with an exterior of dark red brick. It has two stories on First Avenue, and an additional level with another storefront down the hill, on the north elevation. It has three storefronts, restored with recessed doorways and display windows with multilight transoms. Windows on the second story are o1-over-1 wood double-hung sash, in pairs. There is little ornament, except for terra cotta belt course between the stories and a lintel above the recessed entry. Below the prominent stepped parapet is a row of dentils and corbelled brick. |
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