Structure Type: built works - dwellings - houses - apartment houses

Designers: Grainger, Thomas and Baar, Architects (firm); Edward Joseph Baar (architect); Clyde E. Grainger (architect); Donald Partridge Thomas (architect)

Dates: constructed 1950-1951

8 stories, total floor area: 129,860 sq. ft.

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101 West Olympic Place
Queen Anne, Seattle, WA 98119

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Building History

According to a Seattle Times article of 10/01/1950, work was set to begin on the $1,000,000 Queensborough Apartments on 10/02/1950 and was projected to last 10 months. The Seattle architectural firm of Grainger, Thomas and Baar produced the design for V.O. Stringfellow, President of the Queensborough Development Company, Incorporated. The Seattle Times described the new building's purpose: "Stringfellow said the apartments were designed primarily to appeal to business couples without small children and to rent as reasonably as possible." It is not clear what "business couples" meant; Stringfellow would have been ahead of his time if he envisioned his building accommodating two-income families without children.

The Times article described the Queensborough's layout: "The building, L-shaped, will be of reinforced concrete construction with exterior 'hone' finish. There will be eight stories above ground and three stories underground. The three-floor basement will be used for a 96-car garage, cold-storage lockers and laundry facilities." A roof garden was included in the original plans. (See $1,000,000 Apt. Building Planned, Seattle Times, 10/01/1950, p. 45.)

Building Notes

The Queensborough contained 129,860 gross square feet and occupied a 18,000-square-foot (0.41) lot. The garage contained three basement floors and had 46,554 square feet. Apartment space enclosed 83,306 gross square feet, 70,810 net. The building, in 2015, had 106 units with 435 square feet and 38 units with 625 square feet. In 2014, the King County Assessor appraised the building and property to be worth $21,000,000, up from $16,800,000 the year before.

Alterations

Significant alterations occurred to the Queensborough Apartments in 1986.

PCAD id: 17671