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Herbert Smith commissioned architect Earl Roberts to design the Cavalier Apartments c. 1925. Roberts also designed the nearby Commodore and Duchess Apartments for landlord Smith. The Cavalier Apartments opened on 07/31/1926 and served generations of UW students for over 84 years. Expansion on the University of Washington, Seattle, Campus required the demolition of this 1926 high-rise. Due to the economic crisis of 2008-2010, and the reduction of state funding to the university, the UW attempted to increase dormitory space to boost student tuition revenue, particularly from out-of-state students.

This five-story apartment building has a reinforced concrete frame with brick infill panels. Beige terra cotta detailing, typical of 1920s high-rises, trims various parts of the building--lintels, cornice line, etc. The Cavalier had 48 units with 108 rooms, 52,750 gross square feet, 31,806 net. Thirty-five of the apartments contained two rooms, 13 had 3 bedrooms, and there was one commercial storefront. In its last years, Raili's Hair Salon occupied this commercial space. Tel: 206-200-8724 (2010).

Demolished; UW landscape architecture graduate student, Dinah Gewalt, produced a nomination for the Cavalier Apartments to be listed on the Washington Heritage Register. This nomination attempt was not successful, but Gewalt produced a detailed document on the building's history held in the Built Environments Library, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (NW Reference NA7862 .S43 A66 2009). Demolition began on 12/07/2010. The bulk of the demolition occurred over a weekend on 12/11/2010-12/12/2010. Trackhoes spent the next week sorting and removing debris to dump trucks. On 12/14/2010, the west and north walls (first story) still stood. R.W. Rhine, Incorporated, of Tacoma, WA, and Seattle, WA, had the contract with the University of Washington to demolish the Cavalier Apartments. A large dormitory was to replace the building. By early 01/2011, Rhine had demolished the entire building, and foundation work on the new building had begun.