Metropolitan Tract (Seattle)
Encyclopedia
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
owned by the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. Originally covering 10 acres (40,468.6 m²), the 1962 purchase of land for a garage for the Olympic Hotel
Fairmont Olympic Hotel (Seattle)
The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, originally Olympic Hotel, is a historic hotel in downtown Seattle, Washington, occupying the city block between 4th and 5th Avenue and between University and Seneca Streets. It was built in 1924; in 1979, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.It was...
expanded the plot to 11 acres (44,515.5 m²).
The tract includes the original site of the University of Washington campus. In 1895 the university moved to its present site. Initially, the University's new law school used one of the old university buildings and the main, original building was leased first to Seattle Public Schools
Seattle Public Schools
Seattle Public Schools is the school district serving Seattle, Washington, USA. Its headquarters are in the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.-List of schools:...
and then to the Seattle Public Library
Seattle Public Library
The Seattle Public Library is the public library system serving Seattle, Washington, USA. It was officially established by the city in 1890, though there had been efforts to start a Seattle library as early as 1868. There are 26 branches in the system, most of them named after the neighborhoods in...
. As construction of commercial buildings began, this original building was moved a few blocks to a site along Fifth Avenue. However, the building fell into increasing disrepair, and an effort led by Edmond Meany to move it to the new campus and rehabilitate it was unsuccessful.
The state legislature had authorized the university regents to lease or sell the downtown tract. On December 9, 1902, the regents voted to lease rather than sell, although one strip on the northwest corner of the site was sold to the U.S. government for a federal building, on the assumption that this building would increase the value of the rest of the tract.
The initial 1902 lessee, the University Site Improvement Company, began construction on building for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
, but the lease was soon forfeited. Next, the land was leased on November 1, 1904 by James A. Moore, who completed the P-I building and oversaw the continuation of Fourth Avenue through the old campus. In 1907, the same year he opened the Moore Theatre
Moore Theatre (Seattle, Washington)
The Moore Theatre in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. is a 1,419-seat performing arts venue located at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Virginia Street, two blocks from Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. It is the oldest still-active theater in Seattle. The Moore hosts a mix of theatrical productions,...
and Hotel, Moore transferred the remaining 47 years of his lease to the Metropolitan Building Company who engaged the New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
firm of Howells and Stokes to assemble a master plan for integrated development. Howells and Stokes intended to create a "city within a city." At the time, it was the largest development of a downtown site undertaken in the United States.
Howells and Stokes' design included a department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
, offices, a hotel, housing and a small plaza, all to be built in a similar style and scale. All buildings in the tract were to be 11 stories tall, with terracotta ornamentation at the top and street levels and brick in-between. Their decoration would combine elements of the Beaux Arts and commercial (Chicago school
Chicago school (architecture)
Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
) styles, such as symmetry and a clearly marked storefront. Ten structures were proposed; of these, five were actually built; as of 2007, the Cobb Building is the only one of these that survives.
Currently, the Metropolitan Tract contains over 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 m²) of rentable office space, over 200,000 square feet (19,000 m²) of rentable commercial space, some 450 hotel rooms and access to over 2,000 parking spaces. The tract is managed and operated through two long-term leases: one with Legacy Hotels for The Fairmont Olympic Hotel
Fairmont Olympic Hotel (Seattle)
The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, originally Olympic Hotel, is a historic hotel in downtown Seattle, Washington, occupying the city block between 4th and 5th Avenue and between University and Seneca Streets. It was built in 1924; in 1979, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.It was...
and garage, and the other with UNICO Properties, Inc., for all the other buildings in the Tract.
Buildings of note in the Metropolitan Tract
The following buildings in the Metropolitan Tract are on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
- Cobb Building - 1305 Fourth Avenue, Seattle 98101
- Fairmont Olympic HotelFairmont Olympic Hotel (Seattle)The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, originally Olympic Hotel, is a historic hotel in downtown Seattle, Washington, occupying the city block between 4th and 5th Avenue and between University and Seneca Streets. It was built in 1924; in 1979, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.It was...
- 411 University Street, Seattle 98101 - Skinner Building - 1326 Fifth Avenue, Seattle 98101
- 5th Avenue Theatre5th Avenue TheatreThe 5th Avenue Theatre is a landmark theater building located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It has hosted a variety of theatre productions and motion pictures since it opened in 1926. The building and land is owned by the University of Washington and was once part of the original campus...
- 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101, in the Skinner Building
Other buildings of note in the Metropolitan Tract are:
- Financial Center - 1215 Fourth Avenue, Seattle 98161
- IBM Building - 1200 Fifth Avenue, Seattle 98101
- Puget Sound Plaza - 1325 Fourth Avenue, Seattle 98101
- Rainier TowerRainier TowerRainier Tower is a 31-storey skyscraper in the Metropolitan Tract of Seattle, Washington, at 1301 Fifth Avenue. It was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, who designed the World Trade Center in New York City as well as the IBM Building, which is on the corner across the street from Rainier Tower to the...
and Rainier Square - 1301 Fifth Avenue, Seattle 98101
Former buildings of the Metropolitan Tract include:
- The Metropolitan Theatre
- Seattle Ice ArenaSeattle Ice ArenaThe Seattle Ice Arena was a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena located in the Metropolitan Tract in Seattle, Washington.The Arena was home to the Seattle Metropolitans Pacific Coast Hockey Association franchise from 1915 to 1924. It was built in 1915 at the cost of $100,000. It was located across from...