Pacific Tower (Seattle)

The Pacific Tower, once called the Pacific Medical Center, is a tall 16-story building located at 1200 12th Avenue South on Beacon Hill in Seattle, Washington. It was finished in 1932 and opened the next year as a place to help people stay healthy, run by the U.S. Public Health Service. Today, the lower floors still work as a medical center where people can get care.

From 1999 to 2010, a big company named Amazon.com used many rooms in the building for its main office. After Amazon moved to South Lake Union, much of the space stayed empty. In 2013, the State of Washington decided to rent 13 floors for 30 years, and Seattle Central College now uses six of those floors to teach students about healthcare.

The building was designed by the architect Carl Frelinghuysen Gould from the firm Bebb and Gould, with help from John Graham & Company. It has a special style called Art Deco and sits on a hill with a view of downtown Seattle. It is a well-known part of the city's skyline and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as well as a special landmark by the City of Seattle. In the 1990s, the building was made stronger for earthquakes, but it still got some damage during the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.

History

Marine Hospital

The building opened in 1933 as a hospital run by the U.S. government. It had space for 312 patients and helped veterans, sailors, and others who needed medical care.

Office building

In 1981, the government stopped running the hospital. The city of Seattle took over the building. Over the years, different groups used the space for offices and medical care. In 2001, an earthquake damaged the building, but it was repaired. Amazon used some floors until 2010 when they moved to a new location.

In 2013, a plan was made to use the building for community health programs. The state helped pay for renovations, which were finished in 2016.

Housing

In October 2022, work started on adding a new part to the building. This new section will have 270 homes that cost less to rent. It will also include a school for young children and offices for a group that helps people. The building is set to open in two steps, with the first part ready in 2024.

Design

Architectural firm Bebb and Gould, helped by the John Graham Company, designed the original building. Carl Frelinghuysen Gould chose an Art Deco style for it. The tower stands 239 feet (73 meters) tall and overlooks downtown Seattle and Elliott Bay. The building covers 259,703 square feet (24,127.2 meters²) on a 9.5-acre (3.8 hectare) landscaped property. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and received special status from the city in 1992.

In 1994, a northern addition was built, matching the original style and helping protect the building. In 2017, painter Ari Glass created artwork for the North Entrance of the Pacific Tower. The grounds around the main building include six smaller buildings that were once homes for officers but are now used for offices and labs. The whole area is beautifully kept, with a fence around it and several other small buildings nearby.