Joint venture Schnitzer West LLC and Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC are making progress with the construction of a $150 million Class A office project, the 36-story 754,000-square-foot Madison Centre, as the infrastructure for the glass rotunda was completed this week. Standing 60 feet tall and 70 feet wide, the design team believes the rotunda is an iconic element that will change the landscape of the prominent corner on Fifth Avenue and Madison Street in Seattle’s downtown neighborhood.
The rotunda will be a gathering place for tenants in the building with natural light and a three-story living wall, that will appear as a work of art from the outside. According to Steve Cook, the director of investment and development for Schnitzer West, the local developer is actively involved in conducting research through the use of focus groups, in order to develop the best designs for a productive office space.
The thing we found in our research was a need for a dynamic environment and we saw an opportunity to introduce into a traditional CBD (Central Business District) a type of amenity that doesn’t exist anywhere else
“What we do is extensive research into how the workplace is changing, both through primary and secondary research to determine the needs of new employees and the needs of tenants in order to attract and retain talent,” said Cook. “Part of this involves focus groups, brainstorming sessions and actual design tours.”
Before creating the design for Madison Centre, Schnitzer West took its team to tour Philadelphia’s Comcast Center and Chicago’s Harold Washington Library Center. Cook says the developer looks to see how people are using space in order to determine trends for the future. “In the case of Madison Centre, it is really what we call our Great Room 3.0 because we’ve done this a few times,” said Cook. “This one is a slightly updated version from other projects because of the changes in the market, we refreshed the idea. The thing we found in our research was a need for a dynamic environment and we saw an opportunity to introduce into a traditional CBD (Central Business District) a type of amenity that doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
The ground floor of Madison Centre will provide approximately 7,800 square feet of retail space, of which will include a coffee shop and a restaurant space. Architects on the project are a team from Seattle-based NBBJ and San-Francisco-based BAMO Inc., a firm that collaborated with Schnitzer West on its recently completed Urban Union office project that was fully leased by Amazon.
In July it was announced that eight floors of Madison Centre were pre-leased by law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. Cook says additional tenants are looking to lease space, but did not disclose who these tenants are. Construction on the remainder of the tower is anticipated to be complete in the second quarter of 2017.
Directly across the street from the project, Schnitzer West recently partnered with Investcorp to acquire a Class A office tower located at 901 Fifth Avenue for $223.3 million, or $413 per square foot, according to public records. Cook says that plans for redevelopment are underway.
