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Overview

The economic stagnation of the Depression curtailed plans for a twenty-six-story skyscraper to be built on this site. Instead, only two floors were completed by 1935. Two successive building campaigns, one in 1957-1958 and one in 1997, added seven and four more stories, respectively. Extensive remodelings of the external skins occurred during both renovations.

Building History

This publicly-owned utility formed during the Progressive Era, commissioned the firms of Bindon, Wright and Partners, Archtects, and Decker, Christenson and Kitchin, Architects and Engineers, to design its $3.7 million headquarters. By 02/23/1958, all of the framing had been done on the building, most of its exterior sheathing applied, and interior work had begun. Completion was set for 08/1958.

Expeditors International of Washington, Incorporated, moved its headquarters into the new renovated skyscraper in 1997. The Seattle architectural firm of Weinstein / Copeland designed the expansion and renovation of the building during the mid-1990s.

Building Notes

Fentron Industries, Incorporated, produced the alumnium and glass curtain wall system used in the Seattle City Light Headquarters. (See Fentron Industries, Incorporated ad, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 03/11/1959, p. 7.)

Alteration

The 1958 renovation to become a 9-story building originally had an International Style aesthetic, with a cubic form and window bands syncopated by vertical aluminum strips. A white box, covered in enameled white tiles housed the building's circulation spaces. This building was later refaced beyond recognition.

In 1995-1997, Weinstein / Copeland supervised a complete gutting of the earlier tower. The website of the successor firm, Weinstein A + U, said of the renovation: "The existing 140,000 sf, nine-story office building was stripped back to its structural frame. An additional 85,000 sf of new office space was created by enlarging the existing floor plates and by adding four new floors at the top of the building. A complete seismic upgrade was required. All existing elevators, electrical and mechanical systems were replaced with energy efficient systems. The exterior appearance of the building was transformed with new granite cladding on the podium base and an elegant curtain wall on the tower. The Third Avenue street frontage was activated with new retail and restaurant storefronts. It was also augmented with a continuous steel and glass marquee along the entire block front." (See Weinstein A + U.com, "Expeditors International Headquarters Seattle, WA," accessed 03/03/2023.)

The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors made the Expeditors renovation its "Office Development of the Year" in 1999.

PCAD id: 15764