Seattle’s iconic Smith Tower is for sale.
Here’s an interesting bit of Seattle real estate news: the historic Smith Tower in Pioneer Square is looking for a new owner. The Seattle Times reported that a promotional flyer is offering the building at an undisclosed price and that the investment bank that is marketing the building confirmed it is for sale. Read on for all the details!
The 109-year old Smith Tower is an iconic part of the Seattle skyline. Located in the Pioneer Square Preservation District, the building requires permission from the city and a preservation board before it can undergo most types of renovation. So it’s hard to say exactly what it could be used for in the future, although the flyer advertising the sale mentions the possibility of “full or partial residential conversion.”
Currently Smith Tower is home to a luxurious penthouse rental (that’s the pyramid at the top!), a bar and restaurant with an observation deck on the 35th floor that is open to visitors, and office and retail space. Half of the office and retail space in the building currently sits empty.
The news comes just a few months after Smith Tower announced its new offerings for visitors in 2023. In addition to the bar and restaurant, visitors have been encouraged to visit the tower for weekend brunch, movie nights, cocktail classes, and night markets. You can even watch Secret Seattle trying the new weekend brunch at Smith Tower.
We’ll be curious to see what changes, if any, Smith Tower will undergo if there is a successful sale. A price is not listed but the building last sold for almost $138 million in 2019. The flyer advertises it as “priced at a historically attractive basis.”