Hudson Pacific Properties is banking on the accelerating recovery of downtown Seattle as it pursues lease deals with several big tenants at its new Washington 1000 office tower.
The Los Angeles-based real estate investment trust started planning the 17-story, 546,000-square-foot tower at 1000 Olive Way in Seattle's Denny Triangle in 2019, just prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The development team had the foresight to secure the steel, curtainwall and electrical equipment more than 12 months before the speculative office project broke ground in 2022, avoiding erratic pricing and disruptions that put a large number of other development project behind schedule.
The REIT's diligence paid off as it finished the tower last year, and has commenced discussions with multiple tenants looking for between 45,000 square feet and 250,000 square feet at the project, Hudson Pacific President Mark Lammas said during the company's recent earnings call.
Lammas noted "a notable increase in activity" from tenants looking for a full floor or greater at the building with 10,000 square feet of ground-level retail and outdoor meeting space near the expanded Seattle Convention Center as more companies upgrade their space for their employees to return to physical offices.
"Unquestionably, Washington 1000 is the premier newly constructed asset in the market," added Art Suazo, Hudson Pacific's executive vice president of leasing.
The project's important role in the Denny Triangle neighborhood — and the careful planning and flexibility of its design and development teams to pivot during the pandemic — earned Washington 1000 a 2025 CoStar Impact Award, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
About the project: Hudson Pacific first announced plans to acquire the site in May 2019, prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The REIT, working with project architects LMN and Arcadis, quickly updated building plans to reflect shifting priorities in a post-pandemic work environment. The changes included antimicrobial finishes, enhanced HVAC air filtration units, faster elevators, upgraded stairwells and flexible options for touchless facilities.
Washington 1000's unique trapezoidal shape, representing the transition between two shifting grids, resulted in an urban nexus with open workspaces. The master-planned design allows all the tower's parking to be at the convention center, with loading directly beneath the building. The tower's attributes include large 36,500-square-foot floor plates, terraces off the second-floor main lobby, a rooftop indoor lounge and a 6,000-square-foot rooftop terrace.
Construction on the podium over the Seattle Convention Center required ongoing communication and detailed coordination as thousands of trucks travelling around and under the project. The team worked nimbly to sequence the project and allow the convention center to operate continuously and finish the project on schedule.
What the judges said: Washington 1000 stood out among the other developments in Seattle as "a unique project that straddles the world before COVID and after," said Jacob Pavlik of Colliers.
"Constructing the new tower alongside the convention center, which came online mid-project, presented unique logistical challenges, requiring careful planning within tight urban constraints," added Jill McNiesh of Greystar Real Estate Partners.
The tower extends the Denny Triangle office submarket to the convention center, helping knit the neighborhood together with Capitol Hill, said Deborah Ross of Real Retail.
Washington 1000 benefits from "excellent design and amenities on a somewhat challenging site involving the intersection of two city grids and a convention center loading dock underneath," said Steven Bourassa, chair of the Runstad Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington.
They made it happen: The Washington 1000 development team was led by Chris Barton and Tony Toppenberg with Hudson Pacific Properties; CBRE's Daniel Davis; John Chau and Seiji Watanabe of LMN Architects; David Chamness with Arcadis; and Matthew Rosauer of Pine Street Group.