Spire (Seattle building)

Spire is a future 41-story residential skyscraper in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. The building sits in a triangular block adjacent to the intersection of Denny Way and Wall Street, roughly between the Belltown and Denny Triangle neighborhoods. When completed in 2020, it will have 352 condominiums and a rooftop terrace and amenity space.

The project was originally proposed in 2006 as the Icon Tower by a Californian developer, but was put on hold during the economic recession two years later. It was revived in 2013 and underwent additional design changes under a new architect and with investment from Chinese developer Vanke. It was re-branded as Spire and began construction in 2018.

History

The 10,665-square-foot (990.8 m²) triangular site at Denny Way and Wall Street was part of the area re-zoned by the city in 2006 for slim residential buildings with heights of up to 400 feet (120 m).^[2] San Francisco-based Levin Menzies announced plans for a 34-story "Vancouver-style" condominium tower, named the Icon Tower, prior to the zoning change being passed by the city council.^[3] The site was occupied by a surface parking lot that was purchased by the developer in 2007 for $4.4 million.^[4]

The Icon Tower was shortened from 440 feet (130 m) to 290 feet (88 m) by moving most of its parking underground, in response to feedback from the city's design review board and the neighborhood council. Under the plan, the 32-story building would have 224 condominiums and 10 stories of parking controlled by an automated parking system.^[5] The design from Weber Thompson featured a "halo" around its rooftop resembling part of the nearby Space Needle.^[6] The city's design review board approved its design in 2007 and Levin Menzies planned to begin construction the following year, but put plans on hold due to the economic recession despite a switch to apartments.^[4][7][8]

Levin Menzies, re-branded as Laconia Development, chose to prioritize development of an apartment tower on First Hill near Freeway Park before resuming work on the Icon Tower project.^[9] In September 2013, Laconia filed updated design plans from Kwan Henmi Architecture with the city, proposing a 39-story tower with 310 units and automated parking for 284 vehicles and 155 bicycles.^[10][11] The updated design removed the "halo" from the rooftop and added several floors of above-ground parking to compensate for the shallow State Route 99 tunnel, which runs under the site.^[12] Further design revisions under VIA Architecture replaced the parking system with a valet-operated car elevator and converted the project into apartments, averaging 820 square feet (76 m²) per unit. Following city approval, Laconia planned to begin construction in late 2015 or early 2016.^[13]

In May 2016, Seattle mayor Ed Murray announced that the $200 million project would be partially financed by Vanke, the largest residential developer in China.^[14] Vanke's interest in the project was spurred by a state visit by Chinese president Xi Jinping to Seattle in September 2015.^[15] Later that year, the project was granted its master-use permit by the city and Laconia sold the property to another equity partner for $17.3 million.^[16] The city granted a shoring and excavation permit for the project in March 2018, shortly before the expiration of the master-use permit, allowing for pre-construction activities to begin.^[17]

On June 19, 2018, Laconia and Vanke broke ground on the tower, re-branded as "Spire" and consisting of 352 condominiums. The condominiums will be sold for $450,000 to $5 million and are planned to be marketed by Sotheby's International Realty.^[18] Contractor PCL Construction began work on the site later that month and is expected to complete construction in late 2020.^[19]

Design

Spire is located on a triangular, 10,665-square-foot (990.8 m²) lot bounded to the north by Denny Way, to the southwest by 6th Avenue, and the southeast by Wall Street.^[12] The 41-story tower will have 352 condominiums, ranging in size from 520 square feet (48 m²) on lower floors to 3,000 square feet (280 m²) in the upper penthouse levels. The top two floors will have the "Spire Club", an amenity space with indoor entertainment areas and an outdoor terrace.^[19] At street level, the building will have 2,000 square feet (190 m²) of retail space and access to six levels of underground parking with 315 stalls. The parking garage will have a valet at the 6th Avenue entrance and use elevators due to the State Route 99 tunnel, which runs under the site.^[12][19] VIA Architects, the last of three firms that worked on the project, took inspiration for its design from the nearby Insignia Towers and Via6 Towers, as well as the Amazon headquarters campus.^[20]

References