Westlake Center


Westlake Center is a four-story shopping center and twenty-five story office tower in Downtown Seattle. The southern terminus of the Seattle Center Monorail, it is located across Pine Street from Westlake Park, between 4th and 5th Avenues. It is named for Westlake Avenue, which now terminates north of the mall but once ran two blocks farther south to Pike Street. Westlake Park is considered Seattle's "town square" and celebrities and political figures often make appearances or give speeches from the building's balcony. The current shopping center began construction in 1986 after over 20 years of planning, and opened its doors on October 20, 1988.
The structure was designed by RTKL Associats on.

Surrounding area

Surrounding the mall and park, Seattle's main shopping district draws scores of both locals and visitors. To the west of Westlake Center is the main store for Macy's Northwest. To the east is the flagship Nordstrom store and corporate headquarters. In the surrounding area are locations for various major retailers and restaurant chains.
Seattle's version of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is located in this area. Also, many stores were vandalized during the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, during which massive protests occurred in downtown Seattle. It was also the site of the Occupy Seattle protest, which was a solidarity demonstration for Occupy Wall Street.

Public transportation hub

Westlake Center is a public transportation hub for Seattle serving as a terminus for the Seattle Center Monorail and the South Lake Union Streetcar. Beneath the mall, in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, are stops for Sound Transit's Link Light Rail.

Westlake Center Plaza

Westlake Center Plaza is on the corner of 4th Ave. and Pine St and has a small, one-story plus loft retail pavilion. The plaza is covered in gray pavers and holds several small trees. The retail space is. and leased to the Seattle-based company Starbucks. Previous to Starbucks, the space was leased to Seattle's Best Coffee. The space employs about 40 people, and is the second busiest Starbucks in North America.