Safeco Plaza (Seattle) - Plaza Bank Seattle

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Safeco Plaza (Seattle) - Plaza Bank Seattle

Oleh Gloria Jennifer Magda - September 13, 2017 -

Safeco Plaza, previously 1001 Fourth Avenue Plaza and the Seattle-First National Bank Building, is a 50-story, 630Â ft (190Â m) skyscraper in downtown Seattle, Washington. The building is referred to by locals as "The Box the Space Needle Came In". When the tower was completed in 1969 by the by the Howard S. Wright Construction Company for Seattle First National Bank, it dwarfed Smith Tower, which had reigned as downtown's tallest building since 1914, and edged out the Space Needle (built in 1962) in Seattle Center by 25Â ft (7.6Â m) to become the tallest structure in the city until 1985 with the completion of the Columbia Center.

Design and amenities

source : seattle.curbed.com

The bronze-colored aluminum and glass structure was the first modern class-A office building in Seattle and is the first skyscraper in the world to feature a Vierendeel space frame. The structure includes a two-story lobby as well as a five story subterranean garage. Other amenities include 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail featuring a fitness center, a bank, some restaurants, a medical center and a post office. The property also houses a sculpture titled Three Piece Sculpture: Vertebrae 1968 by Henry Moore which is owned by the Seattle Art Museum.

History

source : en.wikipedia.org

Safeco Insurance Company of America leased 284,000 square feet (26,400Â m²) of the building on May 23, 2006 to be its headquarters, moving from offices in the University District and Redmond, and renamed it Safeco Plaza. The company announced in 2015 that it would consolidate its offices into the tower, increasing its lease from 17 to 26 floors.

On July 6, 2016, it was reported that German firm GLL Real Estate Partners GmbH agreed to buy the building for $387 million. The tower had previously been sold in 2005 to CalPERS and Hines for $163 million.