![]() A new speakeasy-themed restaurant, with Prohibition era-inspired food and drink was built on the Observatory floor, in the same space as the Chinese Room, which was permanently closed. Later that year, the new owners stopped the visitor tour and began remodeling the public areas, including the Chinese Room, which had been closed since 2014. In January 2015, Seattle-based real estate investment and operating company Unico Properties bought Smith Tower for $73.7 million. In the spring of 2012 Smith Tower experienced a brief revitalization in the form of new companies moving into some of its empty floors including Portent, Inc., Aukema & Associates, Push Design, and Rialto Communications. Smith Tower was sold to CBRE at a public foreclosure auction on March 23, 2012. When CBRE stepped-in, the building was 70 percent vacant, its rental income was not covering its operating expenses, and its value was assessed by the county to be less than half of its 2006 mortgage. The loan recipient was building owner Walton Street. In 2011, CBRE Group reported that it had purchased a 2006 $42.5 million mortgage in default on the Smith Tower. Smith Tower looking north on 2nd Avenue, 1914 The legend came true for Smith's daughter, who married in the Chinese Room itself. ![]() According to folklore, any wishful unmarried person who sits in it would be married within a year. The chair incorporates a carved dragon and a phoenix, which, when combined, portends marriage. Furnishings include the famous Wishing Chair. The room was furnished by the last Empress of China, Cixi. The Chinese Room, whose name was retired following the 2016 renovation, derived from the carved teak ceiling and blackwood furniture that adorned the room on opening. Over 4,000 Seattleites rode to the 35th floor on opening day. Smith Tower opened to the public on July 4, 1914. Although Smith did not live to see it, the building was completed in 1914 to a height of 143 m (469 ft) from curbside to the top of the pyramid, with a pinnacle height of 159 m (522 ft). His son, Burns Lyman Smith, convinced him to build instead a much taller skyscraper to steal the crown from rival city Tacoma's National Realty Building as the tallest west of the Mississippi River. And Patagonia, not cocktail attire, abides.During a trip to Seattle in 1909, Smith planned to build a 14-story building in Seattle. Modern, shimmering neighbors now block views on one side of that grated deck. But the setting is still Seattle in 2021. Sure, you can read about Roy Olmstead’s bootlegging hijinks on the wall, and you can spot old painted ads on nearby brick buildings. But a top-floor speakeasy was always going to require some imagination. And at the top, the labyrinthine design of the former Chinese Room’s ceiling draws our eyes off the Sound once we’re seated. Don’t get me wrong: The gilded elevator ride up gives new meaning to Gold Rush. The vibe of the building’s observatory isn’t quite so historical. The neoclassical terracotta of Smith Tower, a once peerless Seattle skyscraper, more than suffices. I’ve often squinted up at this viewing area during walks around Pioneer Square, a haunt for transplants like me who appreciate a little sepia in their city from time to time. Woozy, I remember that a cage surrounds the observatory deck rail, thank god. We bottoms-up, pay, and scurry next door. A top-floor speakeasy was always going to require some imagination.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |