Martin Selig’s plans for old Federal Reserve building come down once again

Back when they originally purchased the old Federal Reserve Building at 1015 Second Avenue in Downtown Seattle, Martin Selig Real Estate unveiled plans to add a 29-story tower atop it. After that, they figured they’d keep going and proposed adding another 12 stories, creating a massive 664-foot curved structure with 48 total stories.

When the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board pushed back over concerns that the additions would overwhelm the original, historic structure, Selig came back in June with plans to “only” add eight levels on top of the four-story building.

Perkins + Will

Now Selig and architects Perkins + Will are back with even different plans for their next early design guidance review on December 6. This time, they’ve scaled back once more to just five floors of office space above the original structure.

Perkins + Will

The new addition, which would being the total office space included to about 156,000, would attach at the rear of the building, extending up and over the top. Some condo owners in Madison Tower won’t be too happy about losing their views but the west side of the new structure will be opaque due to privacy concerns.

While this most-recent plan might not have the wow-factor that the initial designs had, it looks like something that makes a lot more thematic sense in a way that incorporates both structures without overwhelming the old Fed. Let’s see if this is the plan that finally sticks.

• 1015 2nd Avenue [SDCI]
• Selig scales back, plans eight-story addition to Federal Reserve Building [CS]
• Selig’s latest plan for historic building: high-rise to mid-rise [PSBJ]