Metropolitan Tract (Seattle)

The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, originally The Olympic Hotel, is a historic hotel in downtown Seattle, Washington. It was built on the original site of the University of Washington's first campus. The hotel opened in 1924, and in 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Rainier Tower is a 41-story, 156.67 m (514.0 ft) 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 southeast. Its construction was completed in 1977.The skyscraper has an unusual appearance, being built atop an 11-story, 37 m (121 ft) concrete pedestal base that tapers towards ground level, like an inverted pyramid. Architect Yamasaki chose the design in order to preserve the greenery of downtown Seattle and allow more ground space to be devoted to a retail shopping plaza.Beneath the tower was Rainier Square, an underground shopping mall connecting with One Union Square, which is owned by the University of Washington (UW). This shopping center was demolished in 2017. Both the mall and tower were originally named after Rainier Bank, which was merged in the 1980s into Security Pacific, which was eventually merged into Bank of America. The tower was named after Security Pacific in 1989 until UW chose to rename it back to the more familiar "Rainier Tower" in 1995.Locals often refer to it as the "Beaver Building" as its physical appearance looks like a tree being felled by a beaver. It had also been referred to as the "golf tee" building.In 2015, the University of Washington proposed the Rainier Square Tower, an 850 ft mixed-use tower, to occupy space on the same block as the Rainier Tower. Construction began in September 2017, and completed in 2020.

The 11-story Cobb Building was the third structure in Seattle's Metropolitan Tract and the only surviving of several buildings in the 10-acre tract of its design that once lined both sides of 4th Avenue. The Howells & Stokes architectural firm designed the building and sent Albert H. Albertson to supervise its 1909-1910 construction. Sculpted Native American ornaments at the 9th and 10th floor cornice are attributed to Victor G. Schneider. An early example of a high-rise medical office center, the Cobb Building later became commercial office space and recently was renovated for apartments.

The 5th Avenue Theatre (often referred to as 5th Avenue or the 5th) is a landmark theatre building located in Seattle, Washington. 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. It is operated as a venue for nationally touring Broadway and original shows by the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre Association. The theatre, located at 1308 Fifth Avenue in the historic Skinner Building, has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 1978. The 2,130-seat theatre is the resident home to the 5th Avenue Musical Theatre Company, and employs over 600 actors, musicians, directors, choreographers, designers, technicians, stage hands, box office staff, and administrators, making it the largest theatre employer in the Puget Sound region. A non-profit, the theatre company is supported by individual and corporate donations, government sources, and box office ticket sales. The 5th's subscriber season programming includes six to seven shows per year, a mix of locally produced revivals of musical theatre classics, and premieres of bound-for-Broadway shows, and national touring musicals. The 5th Avenue Theatre has established a tradition of being a "testing ground" for new musicals before they make their debut on Broadway, launching hits such as Jekyll & Hyde, Hairspray, and The Wedding Singer. The theatre also hosts a variety of special events, and offers education and outreach programs to school-age children and adults reaching over 61,000 students, professional performers, and audiences each year.

Rainier Square Tower is a mixed-use skyscraper in the Metropolitan Tract of downtown Seattle, Washington. The 850-foot (260 m) tall, 58-story tower is located at Union Street between 4th and 5th Avenues adjacent to the existing Rainier Tower; it is the second-tallest building in Seattle. The $600 million project was completed in 2020, and is the tallest building constructed in the city since the construction of the Columbia Center in 1985.

The Skinner Building is an eight-story building in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington, which includes the historic 5th Avenue Theatre at its southern end. Part of the Metropolitan Tract, the structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for the architecture of the interior theatre and of the rest of the building. The exterior features an unadorned sandstone facade with a false loggia and red mission tile roof.The building was constructed in 1926, designed by the architecture firm of Robert Reamer in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. The majority of the surrounding buildings constructed in the Metropolitan Tract have since been replaced with modern structures; only about four original buildings remain, retained due to public intervention.

The Seattle Tower, originally known as the Northern Life Tower, is a 27-story skyscraper in downtown Seattle, Washington. The building is located on 1218 Third Avenue and is known as Seattle's first art-deco tower. Its distinctive, ziggurat exterior is clad in 33 shades of brick designed to effect a gradient which lightens from the bottom to the top of the building. This is said to have been inspired by local rock formations.According to the US National Park Service website: The Northern Life Insurance Company was founded in Seattle by D. B. and T. M. Morgan, with assets of $170,232 and a 12 by 12 foot office in the Colman Building. As the firm prospered, it was moved to larger offices where it remained until, after the death of T. M. Morgan in 1919. D. B. Morgan then decided to construct his own building "finer than anything on the Pacific Coast." The plan to construct the building at a cost of $1.5 million was announced in April 1927. Originally a 24-story building, the Northern Life Tower was increased to 27 stories and when completed was one floor higher above sea level than the Smith Tower, which had previously been referred to as "the tallest building west of the Mississippi." Completed in 1928, the Northern Life Tower--a true skyscraper--represents a dramatic shift in the appearance of Seattle's skyline. Earlier 20th-century buildings had derived their style from classical precedents. But by the 1920s, architects began to favor designs that attempted to emulate the speed, efficiency and power found within technology, perceived by many as humanity's hope for the future. The Northern Life Tower was the first building in Seattle to illustrate this style, now known as Art Deco or Art Moderne. Derived from Eliel Saarinen's famous, second-place proposal for the Chicago Tribune contest, the Northern Life Tower building beautifully illustrates the increasing popularity of a simple, smooth, almost machine-like exterior. This faith in progress also appeared in the lighting that once fully illuminated the building: more than 200 floodlights faded into one another in a "phantasmagoric display" meant to imitate the aurora borealis, a play on the Northern Life Insurance Company's name and an illustration of the belief that science could imitate nature's most incredible wonders. Today the lights are gone, and taller, newer skyscrapers dwarf the building, but it remains one of the Northwest's most elegant Art-Deco buildings. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and is also a designated city landmark.

1200 Fifth, formerly the IBM Building, is a 20-story office building in the Metropolitan Tract, part of downtown Seattle, Washington. The building was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, who also was architect of Rainier Tower on the corner diagonally opposite, and the World Trade Center in New York City. Construction on the building began in May 1963 and it was completed in October 1964.Nard Jones wrote in 1972 that "There is an architectural poetry about [the building] that is at variance with the endless jibes at computerization and the alleged sober pragmatism of IBM personnel." The building's crown has a series of 191 "fins" that measure 23 feet (7.0 m) tall and surround the machinery floors.The corner of the complex at 5th Avenue and University Street was the site of the Seattle Ice Arena from 1915 to 1963.

Puget Sound Plaza is a 21-story skyscraper in the Metropolitan Tract of downtown Seattle, Washington. It is located on 1325 Fourth Avenue and offers 271,000 rentable square feet of space. Its lower two stories were remodeled in 1988. The building also houses a parking garage with 334 parking stalls.

The Seattle Ice Arena was a 4,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was home to the Seattle Metropolitans Pacific Coast Hockey Association franchise from 1915 to 1924. Built in 1915 at the cost of $100,000, the Ice Arena was located in downtown Seattle east of what is now the Olympic Hotel on University Street. It was developed as part of the University of Washington-owned University Tract by the Metropolitan Building Company, and was designed in a style compatible to other buildings nearby. On March 26, 1917, the Metropolitans defeated the Montreal Canadiens at the arena, becoming the first American team to win the Stanley Cup. The arena was briefly a roller rink and was remodeled into a parking garage for the Olympic Hotel shortly after the 1924–25 season. It was torn down in 1963 to make way for the IBM Building.

Hilton Seattle is a hotel in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington. The 14-story hotel was built in 1970 and renovated in 1997 and 2014.

The Washington Athletic Club, founded in 1930, is a private social and athletic club located in downtown Seattle. The 21-story WAC clubhouse opened in December 1930 and was designed in the Art Deco style by Seattle architect Sherwood D. Ford. The five-story WAC includes a 25-yard pool, full-size basketball court, running track, handball and racquetball courts, and pilates and yoga studios. The top ten floors house the Inn at the WAC, a 109-room boutique hotel. The club also offers a full-service day spa and a wellness center with nutrition, physical therapy, and naturopathic services. The building is also home to three restaurants, a private ballroom, social areas, and numerous meeting spaces. The idea of the Century 21 Exposition was first conceived by club members within the building in January 1955.In 2009, the Washington Athletic Club became a City of Seattle Landmark, and in 2018 its 6th Street building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.