High praise for Harbor Steps; project awarded for views, vitality

Harbor Steps, a mixed-use apartment and commercial development in downtown Seattle, has been honored by the Urban Land Institute as one of the world's most outstanding large-scale residential projects.

The award for excellence was presented at the institute's recent fall meeting. The Urban Land Institute, founded in 1936, is dedicated to promoting responsible land use. It is based in Washington, D.C., and has 15,000 members in 52 countries.

Planning for Harbor Steps began in the early 1970s, and was envisioned by its prominent developer, Stimson Bullitt, as a catalyst for the redevelopment of a well-worn section of First Avenue.

It grew to include four towers, 734 apartments, 31,000 square feet of office space, 51,600 square feet of retail space including a day-care center, a 25-room upscale hotel, a conference and meeting center, restaurants and underground parking for 640 cars.

Privately funded, the project hinged on a collaboration with the city of Seattle, which allowed a number of modifications, including transforming a street, Post Alley, into a pedestrian corridor. Harbor Steps, in turn, created walkways allowing the public access to First Avenue from the waterfront.

In recognizing Harbor Steps as the top large-scale residential property, the Urban Land Institute jury said: "Built on a steeply sloping infill site, Harbor Steps' gardenlike public park and four high-rise towers surrounding it generate a sense of openness, provide superb views across Puget Sound, animate the dense residential project and make a significant contribution to urban vitality."

The project is owned by Harbor Properties Inc./Harbor Steps Limited Partnership. It was designed by Hewitt Architects, Callison Architecture and park architect Arthur Erickson. McCarthy Construction was the construction contractor, and ABKJ Consulting Engineers provided structural engineering.

Architect David Hewitt describes the massive project as "more than the sum of its parts, four buildings and a park. Rather, the significance of Harbor Steps is that it resulted in the creation of a place — a community."

"This award is the final chapter of a story about how one company's vision, started some 30 years ago, can result in the creation of a magnificent project that has proven critical to Seattle's downtown community," said Harbor Properties Development President Denny Onslow.

Harbor Steps' award was one of 10 bestowed by the land institute and the only one honoring a Northwest building project.

Elizabeth Rhodes can be reached at erhodes@seattletimes.com.