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Overview

Compelted in 1909, this 10-story building has dominated the skyline in the Westlake neighborhood of Downtown Seattle for over 100 years.

Building History

Herman Goetz and James R. Stirrat (1865-1937), President and Secretary of the Stirrat and Goetz Investment Company, respectively, actively bought and sold real estate in Seattle during the 1900s-1910s. (Both men had other business interests beyond their joint investment company. Herman Goetz, in 1915, was the President of the Pioneer Sand and Gravel Company. The Scottish-born Stirrat also served as the secretary of other companies in 1915, including the Independent Asphalt Company and the Alaska Barge Company.) They commissioned William Doty Van Siclen (1865-1951) to design them a large, steel-frame, mixed-use office and store building in 1905-1906. To raise money for the erection of the building, Stirrat sold other property north of Pioneer Square, an area that was quickly becoming the next central business district for the booming city. The Seattle Times noted on 04/22/1906: "James R. Stirrat has sold a lot on Third Avenue near Seneca Street for the sum of $115,000, the purchaser being J.D. Trenholme. The technical description of the property is lot 3, block 14, C.D. Boren's Addition." (See "Realty Notes of the Past Week," Seattle Times, 04/22/1906, p. 39.)

The Seattle Times reported on 04/22/1906: "The contract for the steel frame work for the Stirrat & Goetz building at Fourth Avenue, Pike Street and Westlake Avenue has been let by Archictect W.D. Van Siclen to the American Bridge Company for $15,000." (See "Realty Notes of the Past Week," Seattle Times, 04/22/1906, p. 39.) Two days later, the Times listed recent building permits issued by the City of Seattle for buildings over $2,000: "Stirrat & Goetz, Inc., 400-410 Pike St., build 10-story reinforced steel store and office building 110x109x67x110, $250,000. W.D. Van Siclen, architect." (See "Building Permits," Seattle Times, 04/24/1906, p. 19.)

Not surprisingly, in 1915, the Stirrat and Goetz Investment Company occupied Room #915 of the Northern Bank and Trust Building. (See R.L. Polk and Company;s Seattle City Directory [1915], p. 1466.)

The office tower continued to be known as the Northern Bank and Trust Building in 1917. By 1918, it had been renamed the "Seaboard Building," meaning that its name had been changed in either mid-late 1917 or early 1918. (See Seattle, Washington, City Directory, 1918, p. 395.)

Building Notes

The Beezer Brothers architectural firm was headquartered in the Northern Bank and Trust/Seaboard building between 1917 and 1922.

This reinforced concrete office/retail building contained 100,446 gross square feet, 61,309 net, in 2008. It covered a site of 10,120 square feet (0.23 acres).

It was named a City of Seattle Historic Landmark, Council Bill Number: 107636, Ordinance Number: 114769.

Alteration

In 1914, the The Commercial and Financial Chronicle reported that the public banking rooms of the Northern Bank and Trust Company Building had been remodeled. "The Northern Bank & Trust Co. of Seattle, Wash., entertained over 5,000 visitors at a housewarming on the 15th inst., when it formally opened its enlarged and remodeled bank rooms at Fourth and Pike streets. The banking space has been doubled, now occupying over 4,000 square feet. The banking rooms have been re-decorated in white and gold and the fixtures, of mahogany and Tennessee marble, are entirely new." (See "Banking, Financial and Legislative News," The Commercial and Financial Chronicle, vol. 99, no. 2565, 08/22/1914, p. 526.)

Windows were replaced after 1980; the Seaboard Building was converted to 25 condominiums in recent years. NBBJ Architects was the firm responsible for the remodeling.