May 11, 2022

Renovated Labor Temple begins new life as boutique offices

Images courtesy of Faul [enlarge]

The renovation cost around $5 million.

Work is complete, and space is starting to fill up, at the renovated and reimagined Seattle Labor Temple at 2800 First Ave.

Developer Chris Faul, of Faul Real Estate, who is only the second person to own the building, purchased the southern portion of the historically landmarked property in December 2020. Until then, and since its construction in 1942, the building had been the headquarters of the Seattle Labor Temple, home to numerous union offices and a central bargaining hall.

Now, the 40,000-square-foot, three-story building — renamed Labour Temple (with a U) — has been transformed into boutique office space with retail on the ground level. Faul said he would describe the project as “a space where the hotel and the office merge,” and that it was inspired by European luxury office/members clubs, such as Soho Works in London.

The European influence forms part of the reasoning for adding the U into the project name. The U was also added in recognition of the building itself which when looked at aerially forms a U-shape with a large central courtyard in between two wings.

THE SOHO WORKS OF SEATTLE

When you walk into “the Soho Works of Seattle,” you enter a luxuriously appointed hotel-style lobby and front desk which is the building's mail room. On this level, office clients are also served by hotel-style amenities that include a fitness room and sauna, outside courtyard with fire pit, a snack area, shower room, a laundry area and bike storage. Materials and the color pallet are rich, with marble, dark woods and deep blues dominating. On the ground level there are three retail spaces, to be occupied by a restaurant, bakery and hair salon. The salon is rented and will be opening soon. Faul is actively seeking clients for the remaining spaces.

The offices themselves are located on levels two and three in a mix of configurations from one- to five-person spaces. In total, there are 62 office suites available to rent. All offices are self-contained and have original doors with inbuilt mailboxes from the 1940s. All have operable windows that look out to either the courtyard or street. Each office also has its own private heating and cooling system. Both office floors have a common room, luxuriously appointed marble bathrooms, small private phone booth type areas and a shared kitchen space. Art by local artists lines the walls of the corridors on the office levels.

RESTORING HISTORY

[enlarge]

An example of an office suite.

The Labour Temple building is a historic landmark, thus protecting its facade from any major development or alterations. Externally, architects BuildingWork and Kenneth Wilson Architect have renovated and tidied up the building's unique art-deco style facade. Original window fittings have been restored and the temple's unique teal terracotta has been refinished and upgraded. The temple's neon sign that used to be on the front of the building has been removed, updated to include the new U in the name, and reinstalled at the side entrance of the building.

Internally, the original wooden floors of the office level corridors have been sanded down and overlaid with a runner. Faul is also planning to install some kind of art installation in the building using old radiators and doorknobs that were salvaged during construction by project general contractor Venture General Contracting.

To get the building fit for reopening it has undergone a full seismic retrofit. All new sprinkler/HVAC systems and state-of-the-art security systems have also been installed. An elevator has been added. Construction work began shortly after closing and took around 15 months to complete.

GETTING BACK TO THE OFFICE

Faul is optimistic about launching an office project in the new world of hybrid work. He said that he hopes the space will become an incubator for the next generation of entrepreneurs and that Labour Temple will become the place “to work from home” for many. He added that the project is attracting a diverse mix of tenants, including some of the labor unions who used to occupy the space before the remodel.

Faul also has plans to turn the basement level of the building — which used to be home to Green Leaf Vietnamese restaurant — into a large open “WeWork style” space, where individuals can rent chairs on a shorter-term basis. That section of the project is set to open later this year. Looking further ahead, Faul is also considering turning the building's boiler room — which still houses the original 1940s boiler— into a speak-easy/gin bar.

Faul's Labour Temple occupies the south three-story portion of the Labor Temple complex at Clay Street. The north, two-story portion, at 2816 First Ave., will become the new home to Downtown Cornerstone Church. A representative for the church said work on that project is likely to be complete in fall 2022. Architect Risepointe, who specialize in religious architecture, is leading the design there. Work will largely be restorative with no major changes to the structure.