The Starbucks Center (formerly the SODO Center) is the world headquarters of the coffeehouse chain

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

. It is located in the

SoDo Sodo () or officially Wolaita Sodo (, ) is a city in south Ethiopia. The city is a political and administrative center of the Wolaita Zone and South Ethiopia Regional State. It has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between abov ...

neighborhood of

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; the area is part of the city's large

industrial district Industrial district (ID) is a place where workers and firms, specialised in a main industry and auxiliary industries, live and work. The concept was initially used by Alfred Marshall to describe some aspects of the industrial organisation of nat ...

. Starbucks Center is the largest multi-tenant building by floor space in Seattle, with over . It is both the largest and oldest building in the country to earn a national green certification.

History

In 1915, the building was constructed by Sears, Roebuck and Co. to fulfill the Sears Catalog in the Western United States. It was added on the north side of an original 1912 building. Sears opened their retail store at this location in 1925. According to the owner, this was the world's oldest continuously operated Sears store (though the Sears store on Lawrence Ave in Chicago opened in the same year and operated until 2016). The building was repeatedly expanded during the 20th century. After the Sears catalog business was closed, the building was sold in 1990, and eventually redeveloped as the SoDo Center. Starbucks began moving its administrative offices to the old Sears building in 1993. On June 20, 1997, the coffeehouse chain moved its headquarters to the SoDo Center, became the building's primary tenant, and secured the naming rights. Accordingly, the building's name was duly changed from the SoDo Center to the Starbucks Center. The building underwent significant renovation following severe damage caused by the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. The Sears department store closed in June 2014 along with its nearby Sears Auto Center. In the first quarter of 2017, Amazon Fresh's newest service, AmazonFresh Pickup, began operating out of the location.

References

{{SoDo, Seattle Office buildings completed in 1912 Office buildings in Seattle Starbucks 1912 establishments in Washington (state) Sears Holdings buildings and structures SoDo, Seattle Food and drink company headquarters in the United States