Location: 1221 1st Avenue, Downtown Seattle, Washington
Development: Mixed-Use / High-Rise For-Rent Residential / Retail / Public Park / Office / Hotel
Team: Harbor Properties, Inc.
Details: 730 residential units, 31,000 sf of office, 51,600 sf of retail, 28-room boutique hotel, 640 spaces of below-grade parking; public park; completed November, 2000.
Of Note: ULI Award of Excellence for Large Scale Residential Projects, 2001

First Avenue in downtown Seattle should have been the city's best neighborhood with the famous Pike Place Market as its primary draw. However, prior to the construction of Harbor Steps, it was riddled with gun shops, strip clubs and retailers with bars on their windows. The visionary development of Harbor Steps was a catalyst for change in the entire area. The Seattle Art Museum elected to develop across the street from the site, and face their front door toward the development. The four tower, mixed-use development is truly a village center within the city of Seattle and has its own small grocer, a child care center, restaurants, galleries, a yoga studio, fashion boutiques, a small inn, and every amenity from a basketball court to a swimming pool, all of which can be utilized by its residents, commercial tenants and guests. In addition, what is entirely unique about this development is the team's decision to build and continuously operate at their own expense, a public park down the center of the project, including 3 levels of fountains, areas for sitting and steps that reconnect downtown with the Seattle waterfront.

Harbor Steps

Mixed-Use Urban Development
Seattle, WA