Thursday, April 15, 2010

Starbucks Headquarters in Old Landmark Sears Tower Building


Starbucks Corporate Headquarters
Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.
Starbucks started leasing office space in the old Sears building in 1993. By 1997 they had decided to expand their use of space to make this their headquarters and placed the 20 foot tall peeping mermaid logo on the top of the clock tower. Their lease goes through 2015. When they first made this commitment to stay rooted here, the Seattle Times reported, "The mammoth complex, which also houses a Sears store and two other retail tenants, is being renamed the Starbucks Center. Starbucks, which is leasing space there, and Nitze-Stagen & Co., the building owner, have pumped $30 million in improvements into one of the SODO district's most enduring landmarks." Four years later the building was damaged in the 6.8 Nisqually earthquake and had to undergo major repairs. The mermaid is still peeking out in the four directions. Reports came out  in 2007 about office space expansion plans for Starbucks in the SODO neighborhood, but I haven't heard any specifics.  This view is compressed by the long lens I used and makes West Seattle across Elliott Bay seem as if it is only a stone's throw away, but it's quite a distance.
Hope the procrastinators in the USA get their taxes filed by the deadline, which is today. "April is the cruelest month. . ." :-).


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