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A flag and a tree sit on a steel beam, held aloft by cable in front of a wall of glass windows.
The final steel beam is hoisted atop Rainier Square Tower.
Courtesy of Rainier Square

9 skyscrapers under construction in and around downtown Seattle

Projects transforming the downtown skyline

By Sarah Anne Lloyd Updated
5 comments / new
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The final steel beam is hoisted atop Rainier Square Tower.
| Courtesy of Rainier Square
By Sarah Anne Lloyd Updated
5 comments / new

Seattle is rapidly growing and changing, with most neighborhoods undergoing an influx of development. Downtown, with its lack of height limits, is home to the most impressively massive projects though—buildings that will transform the city’s iconic skyline.

For purposes of this map, we considered “skyscrapers” buildings with 40 stories or more, which leaves out a couple of honorable mentions like the 36-story Third and Lenora project. A few of these projects are just barely over that threshold, but one soars up to 58 stories—that’s the tapered Rainier Square Tower project, which is set to be Seattle’s second-tallest building at 850 feet tall.

The term “downtown” can also be a little fuzzy. Here, we used north to Denny Way, south to South Atlantic Street, east to Interstate 5, and west to the water, encompassing Belltown and the Denny Triangle.

All of these projects have had construction permits issued—but progress ranges from projects not too far off the ground to topped-out towers just putting on the finishing bells and whistles.

Map points are ordered north to south.

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The 8 Tower

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Estimated to be completed in 2021, this 42-story condo tower will contain more than 300 homes with on-site valet parking. It’s designed by Caron Architecture.

2300 8th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

600 Wall Street

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Originally set to be apartments, this Laconia Development project by Via Architecture switched to condos last year. The plan is to have 352 homes in the tall, but thin—it’s on a weird little triangle lot—building, with posh amenities like a “wine loft.”

600 Wall St, Seattle, WA 98109

2014 Fairview Avenue

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While it’s been in the works for a few years, developer Bosa Properties announced construction was starting on this 41-story, 440-unit apartment tower last year with an estimated late 2021 completion date. Its wavy design comes from a partnership between Seattle’s ZGF Architects and Vancouver, BC’s Cotter.

2014 Fairview Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
An architectural rendering of a skyscraper taller than the other tall buildings around it. It has a wavy modulation on the right side, and looks like stacked flat planes of glass. ZGF Cotter via Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections

Denny Center

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This bulby, 42-story high-rise with a wavy podium is designed by ZGF Architects and developed by Bosa. When completed, it will contain 440 apartments, plus just under 10,000 square feet of retail. It’s scheduled for completion in late 2021.

2014 Fairview Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
A rendering of an aerial view of Denny Center in Seattle. There is a group of buildings with a tall skyscraper that has a ridged facade. ZGF Cotter Architects via SDCI

1200 Stewart Street

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This wavy pair of 44-story towers on top of a three-story podium by Canadian developer Westbank will contain whopping 1,050 apartments collectively, plus 152,172 square feet of retail below. It’s designed by Vancouver-based firm Henriquez Partners Architects, which says it’s conceived as kind of a “gateway.” It’s supposed to be done sometime in 2021.

1200 Stewart St, Seattle, WA 98101

2019 Boren Avenue

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Back in 2017, Cornish College of the Arts, Recovery Café, and Bellwether Housing sold three surface-level parking lots to Holland Partner Group on the corner of Boren and Lenora in exchange for a piece of the new building. In September, the building broke ground. The future 44-story mixed-use tower with apartments above and arts and office space below is designed by Weber Thompson.

2019 Boren Ave, Seattle, WA 98101
A skyscraper with glass curtain walls at dusk, with lights on inside at every level. Courtesy of Weber Thompson

BB6

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This massive project on the site of the former Antioch University building and the connecting lot at Sixth and Bell has switched gears a lot in the last few years, but it was sold shovel-ready last year with plans for two 42-story towers with a whopping 850 apartments and 200 hotel rooms. It’s called BB6—that’s Bell, Battery, and Sixth—and its construction timeline is unclear.

2300 6th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

First Light

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This condo building was going to be apartments—but last year it joined a burgeoning condo boom. It’s set to be 48 stories—one story of ground-floor retail, six stories of office space, 38 stories containing a total of 459 residences, and three amenity levels. At 500 feet tall, it’s not going to be tall enough to crack Seattle’s top 10 tallest buildings, but it’ll make the top 25. It’s designed by Vancouver architect James K.M. Cheng and local architecture firm MG2. The plan to have a big ol’ geodesic sphere on top was ultimately scrapped, but it’s still anticipated to be a high-design blend of art and architecture.

2000 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

Rainier Square Tower

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This 58-story building features a unique swoop shape which some call similar to a champagne flute, shoe, or ice cream scoop. It’s meant to be complementary to the Minoru Yamasaki-designed Rainier Tower next door, which was built in 1977 and features a tapered base. While it’s still under construction, it has already reached its full 850-foot height, so it’s technically already the second-tallest building in Seattle.

1301 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101
A tall building with an unfinished glass facade stands next to a concrete tower with vertical stripes of windows above a flared base. Courtesy of Rainier Square

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The 8 Tower

2300 8th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

Estimated to be completed in 2021, this 42-story condo tower will contain more than 300 homes with on-site valet parking. It’s designed by Caron Architecture.

2300 8th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

600 Wall Street

600 Wall St, Seattle, WA 98109

Originally set to be apartments, this Laconia Development project by Via Architecture switched to condos last year. The plan is to have 352 homes in the tall, but thin—it’s on a weird little triangle lot—building, with posh amenities like a “wine loft.”

600 Wall St, Seattle, WA 98109

2014 Fairview Avenue

2014 Fairview Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

While it’s been in the works for a few years, developer Bosa Properties announced construction was starting on this 41-story, 440-unit apartment tower last year with an estimated late 2021 completion date. Its wavy design comes from a partnership between Seattle’s ZGF Architects and Vancouver, BC’s Cotter.

2014 Fairview Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
An architectural rendering of a skyscraper taller than the other tall buildings around it. It has a wavy modulation on the right side, and looks like stacked flat planes of glass. ZGF Cotter via Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections

Denny Center

2014 Fairview Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

This bulby, 42-story high-rise with a wavy podium is designed by ZGF Architects and developed by Bosa. When completed, it will contain 440 apartments, plus just under 10,000 square feet of retail. It’s scheduled for completion in late 2021.

2014 Fairview Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
A rendering of an aerial view of Denny Center in Seattle. There is a group of buildings with a tall skyscraper that has a ridged facade. ZGF Cotter Architects via SDCI

1200 Stewart Street

1200 Stewart St, Seattle, WA 98101

This wavy pair of 44-story towers on top of a three-story podium by Canadian developer Westbank will contain whopping 1,050 apartments collectively, plus 152,172 square feet of retail below. It’s designed by Vancouver-based firm Henriquez Partners Architects, which says it’s conceived as kind of a “gateway.” It’s supposed to be done sometime in 2021.

1200 Stewart St, Seattle, WA 98101

2019 Boren Avenue

2019 Boren Ave, Seattle, WA 98101

Back in 2017, Cornish College of the Arts, Recovery Café, and Bellwether Housing sold three surface-level parking lots to Holland Partner Group on the corner of Boren and Lenora in exchange for a piece of the new building. In September, the building broke ground. The future 44-story mixed-use tower with apartments above and arts and office space below is designed by Weber Thompson.

2019 Boren Ave, Seattle, WA 98101
A skyscraper with glass curtain walls at dusk, with lights on inside at every level. Courtesy of Weber Thompson

BB6

2300 6th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

This massive project on the site of the former Antioch University building and the connecting lot at Sixth and Bell has switched gears a lot in the last few years, but it was sold shovel-ready last year with plans for two 42-story towers with a whopping 850 apartments and 200 hotel rooms. It’s called BB6—that’s Bell, Battery, and Sixth—and its construction timeline is unclear.

2300 6th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

First Light

2000 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

This condo building was going to be apartments—but last year it joined a burgeoning condo boom. It’s set to be 48 stories—one story of ground-floor retail, six stories of office space, 38 stories containing a total of 459 residences, and three amenity levels. At 500 feet tall, it’s not going to be tall enough to crack Seattle’s top 10 tallest buildings, but it’ll make the top 25. It’s designed by Vancouver architect James K.M. Cheng and local architecture firm MG2. The plan to have a big ol’ geodesic sphere on top was ultimately scrapped, but it’s still anticipated to be a high-design blend of art and architecture.

2000 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

Rainier Square Tower

1301 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101

This 58-story building features a unique swoop shape which some call similar to a champagne flute, shoe, or ice cream scoop. It’s meant to be complementary to the Minoru Yamasaki-designed Rainier Tower next door, which was built in 1977 and features a tapered base. While it’s still under construction, it has already reached its full 850-foot height, so it’s technically already the second-tallest building in Seattle.

1301 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101
A tall building with an unfinished glass facade stands next to a concrete tower with vertical stripes of windows above a flared base. Courtesy of Rainier Square