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The Columbia Center or Columbia Tower, formerly named the Bank of America Tower and Columbia Seafirst Center, is a
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...
in downtown
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, Washington, United States. The 76-story structure is the tallest building in the state of Washington, reaching a height of . At the time of its completion in 1985, the Columbia Center was the tallest structure on the West Coast; , it is the fourth-tallest, behind buildings in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. The Columbia Center, developed by Martin Selig and designed by Chester L. Lindsey Architects, began construction in 1982 and was completed in 1985. The building is primarily leased for class-A office spaces by various companies, with the lower floors including retail space and the upper floors featuring a public
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...
and private club lounge. The tower has the highest public viewing area west of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
. It occupies most of the block bounded by Fourth and Fifth Avenues and Cherry and Columbia Streets.


Design

Columbia Center was designed by Washington architect Chester L. Lindsey. The base of the building is clad in Rosa Purino Carnelian
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
. The building's structure is composed of three geometric concave facades with two setbacks, causing the building to appear like three towers standing side by side. Ground level elevation on the Fifth Avenue side of the building is higher than on the Fourth Avenue side; the part of Cherry Street it faces was identified as one of the steepest streets in the
Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
with a slope of 17.1%. The tower was originally designed to be about , but federal regulations by the
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
(FAA) would not allow it to be that tall so close to the nearby Sea-Tac Airport. Although city
land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...
regulations at the time were intended to limit skyscrapers to about 50 stories, the developer, Martin Selig, obtained the necessary permits for a 76-story skyscraper due to a part of the law that allowed bonus height for providing retail space with street access. Because three separate stories could access the street on the sloped site, the developers were allowed a bonus for each of the three stories they set aside for retail, which was reportedly an unintended loophole in the law. There is an observation deck on the 73rd floor which offers views of Seattle and environs. The top two floors of the building (75th and 76th) are occupied by the private Columbia Tower Club, which houses a restaurant, bar, library, and meeting rooms. An underground concourse connects the building to the nearby Seattle Municipal Tower and Bank of America Fifth Avenue Plaza. The tower, originally proposed as Columbia Center, opened under the name Columbia Seafirst Center after its largest tenant and financier, Seafirst Bank, and then changed to the Bank of America Tower, when Seafirst, which had been owned by
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
since 1983, was fully integrated into Bank of America. That name gave it the nickname "BOAT" (Bank of America Tower). In November 2005, the building's name was changed back to Columbia Center after the bank reduced its presence in the building. Bank of America still maintains office space within the building, but has since closed the bank branch at the base of the tower.


History


Development and construction

Martin Selig, a local real estate developer who had recently opened the Fourth and Blanchard Building, announced plans for a 75-story office building at 4th Avenue and Columbia Street in October 1980. The $120 million project, named the "Columbia Center", would be funded by the Seafirst Mortgage Company and constructed by Howard S. Wright. Selig borrowed $205 million in 1981 to develop the property. The Columbia Seafirst Center, as it came to be known, was constructed by Howard S. Wright starting in 1982 with a deep excavation hole that required of dirt and soil to be removed. This was one of the largest foundations for a building in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
along with concrete footings extending below street level. While the structural steel of the building was built at a rate of 2 floors per week, the building itself was completed on January 12, 1985, and opened on March 2 of that same year. U.S. Steel Corporation was contracted to provide of steel for construction. It was approximately 50% taller than the previous tallest skyscraper in Seattle, the Seattle First National Bank Building (now Safeco Plaza) that opened in 1969.


Financial issues and height controversy

Selig continued to own and manage the building until 1989 when financial problems forced him to sell it to Seafirst Corporation for $354 million. Management was taken over by the Tishman West Company of Los Angeles. Controversy regarding the skyscraper's size contributed to the passage of a 1989 law called the Citizen's Alternative Plan (CAP) that enforced more stringent restrictions on the size of buildings in Downtown Seattle. In 1990, after rejecting earlier plans for antennas, Seattle and the FAA granted permission to erect two antennas on top of Columbia Center, which were expected to be used for broadcasting radio and television throughout the region. Though the FAA was originally worried about the tower's height encroaching the airspace, they deemed the addition of the antennas not problematic. The antennas were not built before the permits expired in 1994, however.


Ownership changes

EQ Office bought Columbia Center from Seafirst in 1998 for $404 million. The New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a 49.9% stake in the building and then several years later sold its share back to EQ Office. In 2007, Columbia Center was sold by EQ Office to Boston-based Beacon Capital Partners for $621 million; Beacon later defaulted on a loan in 2010, the height of the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
, at a time when vacancies reached 40%. On August 7, 2015, Hong Kong-based Gaw Capital Partners purchased the building for $711 million.


Renovations

On July 1, 2013, the Columbia Center's observation deck, known as the Sky View, was remodeled from 270 degrees to a 360-degree viewing area. The observation deck underwent further renovations in 2018, adding two express elevators and a new lounge. The 4th Avenue entrance was also renovated.


September 11 attacks

On June 16, 2004, the 9/11 Commission reported that the original plan for the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
called for the hijacking of 10 planes, to be crashed into targets including the "tallest buildings in California and Washington state," which would have been the U.S. Bank Tower in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and the Columbia Center, respectively.


Events

Columbia Center plays host to the largest on-air
firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...
competition in the world, the LLS Firefighter Stairclimb. About 2,000 firefighters from around the world yearly make the trek up 69 floors and 1,311 steps in full structural turnout gear while on air. This event benefits the Washington/Alaska chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Big Climb is the sister event to the LLS Firefighter Stairclimb. About 6,000 participants race and climb to the top of Columbia Center, raising more than $3 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This event is open to the public and anyone 8 years of age or older can participate.


Gallery

File:Seattle palace2.jpg, Columbia Center File:Columbia Center in Seattle.jpg, Columbia Center when it was called the Bank of America Tower File:Seattle_Columbia_centre.jpg, Columbia Center from below File:Field of buildings with the pagoda (Japanese Temple to Buddha) inspired Space Needle, Seattle, Washington.jpg, The
Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a List of Seattle landmarks, Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, Lower Queen An ...
from the observation deck File:Seattle-Columbia-Center-looking-north-2320.jpg,
Downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...
from the observation deck File:Columbia Center, by Ww7021.jpg, Beneath Columbia Center File:Bank-of-america-seattle.jpg, Panorama from the observation deck File:Columbia_observation_deck.jpg, Inside the observation deck File:Seattle seen from Rizal Park area.jpg, Columbia Center seen from Rizal Park


See also

* List of tallest buildings in Seattle *
List of tallest buildings in the United States The world's first skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885. Since then, the United States has been home to some of the world's tallest skyscrapers. New York City, and especially the borough of Manhattan, has the tallest skyline in the country. E ...
* List of tallest buildings by U.S. state * Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park * List of buildings


References


External links


Columbia Center Official Website

Columbia Center Sky View Observatory Website

Columbia Center
on
CTBUH The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings, including skyscrapers, and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in Chicago, Illinois, U ...
Skyscraper Center
Columbia Center construction photographs
{{Beacon Capital Partners Bank of America buildings Office buildings completed in 1985 Skyscraper office buildings in Seattle Buildings and structures in Downtown Seattle 1985 establishments in Washington (state)