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Washington Mutual Bank
(WaMu) and the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) have put together a unique
partnership to benefit each others needs. SAM will get a new 335,000
square foot art museum addition and will triple its current size
to 450,000 square feet when it occupies the new tower. WaMu will
get a 598 foot high office building, the new corporate headquarters
of the nation’s sixth largest bank and Seattle’s largest
private employer. Designed by NBBJ, the property required rezoning
to accommodate the oversize complex which provides WaMu with larger
than average floor plates. This is the biggest addition to the
Seattle skyline in more than 15 years. Construction began in 2004
and the first phase is expected to be competed in 2007.
The $300 million 42-story tower will house 4,000 bank employees
and include a 12-story expansion for the Seattle Art Museum.
The full city block will generate over 1.3 million square feet
of space. The office tower of 940,000 square feet will stand
608 feet above the corner of Second Avenue and Union Street and
become the city’s sixth tallest tower, three feet higher
than the tip of the Space Needle. A roof garden is featured on
the 17th floor.
The Seattle architectural firm NBBJ is the designer, with Syska
Hennessy as the designing the elevators and escalators.
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