rss feedWant office space in a Seattle building that housed immigrants, a gangster and gold?
I should say upfront that the old Immigration and Naturalization Service building in Seattle – which has office space for lease and has neoclassical architectural touches from the 1920s and 1930s - sits on a centrally-located piece of land.
It rests at 815 Airport Way S. on the border of the city’s International District (and across the street from Uwajimaya, the big Asian supermarket) and within walking distance of the sports stadiums, restaurants and bus stops.
So, yes, it is easy to see why the building will be a draw for people in 2010 and beyond. But keep in mind: This 77,000-square-foot building, which opened in 1932 and completed under the supervision of architect James Wetmore, has plenty of history.
As in: It once housed Chinese immigrants – who were detained under the Chinese Exclusion Act, the country’s first racially-specific immigration law to block people from entering the United States.
HistoryLink.org notes that Alvin “Creepy” Karpis – a 1930s gangster and member of the Ma Barker Gang – called the building a temporary home (involuntarily, of course). He also spent time on Alcatraz. He apparently was a real-life public enemy.
On the upper floors, employees once processed gold – by 1955, nearly 1,000 pounds of it, federal officials said. Miners from the Klondike Gold Rush stopped at the office with what the precious metal. The U.S. government wanted to boost its gold reserves.
When I toured the building in 2006 with Hing Chinn, a Seattle resident who was detained there under the Chinese Exclusion Act, I spotted cramped rooms, tiny offices and holding cells – all of which undoubtedly will change with renovation efforts.
Now, as they say, all of this can be yours – or at least a slice of it if you lease office space in the building. This sign photographed below sits in front of what officially was called the United States Immigrant Station and Assay Office.
The leasing is a continuation of the sale of the building for $4.4 million by the federal government. INS Holdings LLC, comprised of a group of Seattle-area investors, purchased the building in an online, eBay-style bid.
At one point, the city of Seattle had hoped to receive the building for free from the federal government. There was talk about using the building to house travel and trade offices and some type of Asian Pacific center.
The city later pursued a sale of the building at a price tag of at least $998,000.
That idea, though, of the city taking ownership of the building fell through and the online bid process surfaced. The initial bid was $2.2 million and INS Holdings LLC won the day.
Urban Visions, a Seattle-based developer, envisioned using the space for environmental projects.
At one point, the Highline School District, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Salvation Army and private developers also expressed some interest in using the building, a federal official said.
Shawn Jackson of Holden Street Partners LLC is taking calls regarding office space at (206) 510-2576. A2 – Anisoglu Associates – or A2 – of Bainbridge Island is the architecture firm working on the renovations.
Cihan Anisoglu of Anisoglu Associates and a development partner said that the new owners plan to have space in the building to mark its place in Seattle and U.S. history.
Last year’s poor economy apparently delayed the posting of the office lease sign until recent months in 2010.
So: Will people rent space in the building?
I can see how people who support urban density could gravitate toward leasing space in the building, which required millions of dollars in renovations to bring it up to safety code. The building, as I’ve said, is close to Uwajimaya, restaurants and office buildings.
Jen Graves of The Stranger notes on the Slog that some artists already are in the building.
In terms of architecture, well, there are touches that people won’t see in the shiny, new steel-and-glass skyscrapers in the city. There is an Old World charm to its light fixtures, what with all the metal framing and ornate styling, as well as a modern touch with the energy-efficient bulb.
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places – so the owners need to keep much of the structure as it is.
The other day, after I spotted the office lease sign, I stood near the building and realized that its gate was open. A parking company is using the back lot.
I had never looked behind the building – I always saw it from the front, just as a facade and history marker in many ways. Well, here are some images from the other side of the building.
In 2005, the federal government issued a quick history of the building – including the fact that a safe-cracker who plied his gingerly trade during the Depression Era once was locked up inside.
Like I said before: This place has lots of history.
