Russell Investments Center is a skyscraper in Seattle, Washington. After its completion, it was the largest skyscraper to mark the downtown Seattle skyline in nearly 15 years, and is the city's sixth tallest building, at 182.18Â m (597.7Â ft), with 42 floors.
It was originally named WaMu Center because it was built to become the new headquarters for Washington Mutual (WaMu). Major construction ended in early 2006, with minor construction continuing into the fall. Tenants from Washington Mutual began to move into the tower in March 2006. On September 25, 2008, Washington Mutual failed, and its assets and accounts were sold to JPMorgan Chase by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. On June 1, 2009, the building was renamed Chase Center. On September 9, 2009, the building was purchased by Northwestern Mutual of Milwaukee. Russell Investments, a Northwestern Mutual subsidiary, made the building its corporate headquarters upon relocation from Tacoma, Washington, and renamed the building the Russell Investments Center. In December 2014 Zillow became the largest tenant in the building. Accordingly, Zillow Group employees affectionately refer to the building as Zillow Tower.
The architect for the tower is NBBJ, which also designed nearby Two Union Square and other notable buildings in the downtown area of Seattle. Sellen Construction was the general contractor for the project. The tower is located at 1301 Second Avenue, on the opposite corner from 1201 Third Avenue that was previously named Washington Mutual Tower.
WaMu Center was built to stand as Washington Mutual's headquarters, and to move most of its many Seattle area workers into one tower, to streamline operations, and to encourage worker interaction, with a reinvention of the workplace. There is also a private 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2) rooftop patio on the west half of the 17th floor for workers of the tower to take walks along the several walking paths.
The tower includes the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) on the first four floors of the west half of the building, and connects to the museum's existing building on the southern portion of the block. WaMu and SAM made an agreement where the museum may expand in two-floor increments up to the 12th floor over the next 20 years as needed.
Tenants
- Dendreon (HQ)
- Russell Investments (HQ)
- Seattle Art Museum
- DocuSign
- Nordstrom
- Zillow (HQ)
- En Masse Entertainment (HQ)
References
External links
- Russell Investments Center official website
