Eagles Apartments at Kreielsheimer Place

The Eagles Building was a unique opportunity to reuse a historically significant building in the heart of downtown Seattle. Washington, and give it new life as both a low-income apartment building and a new performing arts theater for a local repertory company. The Washington State Convention and Trade Center sold the building to the developer at below market rate. The Convention Center also endorsed the project for low-income housing to promote replacement of affordable housing lost in the downtown area. In a non-traditional partnership, the architect, GGLO, and the developer, Housing Resources Group-Seattle, worked collaboratively with the local theater group's (ACT) design team to help transform this building.

The Eagles Building is a handsome early 1900 terracotta clad building with ornate interior detail. Every effort was made to retain that integrity in the redesign and still maintain affordability. As part of the renovation, the Eagles Building applied for historic preservation under the National Trust for Historic Preservation. As a result, many existing architectural details were documented and replicated. For example, the original terrazzo lobby floor, which was damaged, was replaced with new terrazzo, and doors and trim were selected to match or closely resemble the originals. As the Seattle Times stated "Renovated and revitalized, the former Eagles Auditorium building has regained its significance as a civic amenity for downtown Seattle."


Source: Design Matters: Best Practices in Affordable Housing, City Design Center at the University of Chicago.