Best Project: Renovation/Restoration: The State Hotel

The State Hotel
Seattle
Best Project

Owner: Lake Union Partners LLC
Lead Design Firm: Weinstein A+U
General Contractor: Exxel Pacific Inc.
Structural Engineer: Coughlin Porter Lundeen
Mechanical Engineer: Emerald Aire Inc.
Electric Engineer: Safe Consulting Services Corp.
Plumbing Engineer: Harris Group

The renovation of Seattle’s landmark Eitel Building—built in 1904 and located next to Pike Place Market—created 91 guest rooms and a restaurant for the State Hotel. The project included a full-scale seismic retrofit and rehabilitation of the seven-story structure to comply with building codes, including new mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire-protection systems and elevators.

Along with the original historic archway, the main floor features storefront windows, a street-level restaurant, a new steel-and-glass canopy and a refinished masonry facade. The boutique hotel’s new eighth floor houses a private bar for guests and penthouse-level suites with views of Pike Place Market and Elliott Bay.

Removal of the roof structure required temporary bracing of unreinforced brick walls during demolition and installation of the roof deck. The seismic retrofit also included five new shotcrete shear walls at the building’s corners, reaching from top to bottom.

During renovation, the team installed a six-story scaffolding system with protection tenting for work in bad weather. The scaffold rested on temporary structural-steel outrigger beams attached to the newly installed structure deck.

A five-story mural called “Fire Sale” by well-known street artist Shepard Fairey is the largest art feature at the hotel, installed in late 2018 on the building’s west facade. The mural added iconic colors to the Seattle skyline.

“We began this project three years ago with a local team, from our investment partners to the general contractor,” says Patrick Foley of Lake Union Partners.

“While it was a much greater cost and technical challenge to repurpose the building than to tear it down and rebuild, its character and creative design are things we know our guests and neighbors will enjoy and appreciate,” he says.