Columbia Center

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• About 2,000 people visit the tower every business day.
• Tallest building by number of floors (76) west of the Mississippi River.
• Tallest building in the state of Washington.
• There is an observation deck on the 73rd floor.
• Approximately 5,000 people work in the tower daily.
• Originally designed to be 1,005 feet tall. The FAA had it shortened because of a flight path to SeaTac Airport. The same number of floors was retained by shortening the floor-to-floor height by 6 inches.
• Sold in 1998 for $404 million to Equity Office Properties Trust, which was, at that time, a record sale in the Pacific Northwest for one building. This was more than twice the cost of construction.
• Number of windows: 8,816.
• Topped out (last beam) on September 30, 1984.
• Actual height of structure from main entrance (4th floor) on Fifth Avenue, due to elevation changes between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, is 882.5 feet.
• The rooftop is exactly 1,042.5 feet above sea level.
• Fourth Avenue entrance is 110 feet above sea level.
• Fifth Avenue entrance is 160 feet above sea level which includes a 12-foot rise in the plaza from Fifth Avenue's 148 feet elevation.
• Lowest elevation point of 106 feet above sea level is at corner of Fourth & Cherry making the overall height of building 936.5 feet.
• Ninth tallest office building in the world when opened in 1985 and by 2004 it ranked 28th place overall.
• The late Victor Steinbrueck, former dean of the University of Washington School of Architecture, said: "It's terrible. A flat-out symbol of greed and egoism. It's probably the most obscene erection of ego edifice on the Pacific Coast".
• Martin Selig, the building's developer, in 1987 said: "The Space Needle told people where Seattle was. Columbia Center (the original name) tells people Seattle has arrived".
• Voted the Best Bathroom in the USA, the Columbia Club women's bathroom is located on the 76th floor and offers a spectacular easterly view of the Cascades mountain range and the city below.
• Opened March 2, 1985 as Columbia Center, then changed to Columbia Seafirst Center. Became Bank of America Tower on September 27, 1999, and then full-circle to Columbia Center on November 21, 2005.
• Tallest high-rise on the Pacific Coast from 1985 to 1989, surpassing Aon Center and surpassed by US Bank Tower.
• Occupies the entire city block bounded by Fourth and Fifth Avenues, from Columbia to Cherry Street.
• The building's base is a polished Rosa Purino Carnelian granite.
• Six escalators connect the retail levels with the lobby.
• Three interlocking geometric arches lend the appearance of a three-tower design while functionally serving as a symmetrical, unified whole.
• Sold on April 10, 2007 for $621 million.