August 31, 2005

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Holds Ceremonial
Ground Breaking for New Seattle Branch Building in Renton

Click on an image for larger version. New Seattle Branch Fact Sheet (PDF - 43KB)

Seattle, Washington, August 31, 2005—Officials from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF), the Federal Reserve Board Governors, the Federal Reserve's Seattle Branch, along with representatives of the City of Renton and the Boeing Company, held a ceremonial ground breaking this afternoon in Renton for the San Francisco Bank's new Seattle Branch building on a former Boeing site in the Longacres Office Park. The ceremony was attended by more than 100 civic and business leaders invited from throughout the area.

Last November, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco announced plans to build a new facility on 10.8 acres it arranged to purchase from the Boeing Company. The Seattle Branch currently is located on Second Avenue in downtown Seattle in a building it has occupied since 1951. At that time, the Bank said it needed a new facility with a larger capacity to accommodate growth in cash services, state of the art operating systems, future expansion space, and a wider perimeter for security enhancements.

Those who joined in turning earth with golden shovels included: Mic Dinsmore, Chairman of the San Francisco Bank's Seattle Branch Board of Directors; Dr. Janet Yellen, FRBSF President & CEO and John Moore, FRBSF First Vice President & COO, both from San Francisco; Mark Olson, Federal Reserve Governor from Washington, D.C.; Jay Covington, Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Renton; Robert Watt, Commercial Airplanes Vice President of Government and Community Relations from Boeing; Senior Vice President and Seattle Branch Manager Mark Gould, along with Eugene Wong from the Seattle Branch cash department, chosen to represent all employees at the ceremony.

Dr. Yellen noted that what will not change with this new building is "our commitment to providing the highest quality, most efficient service to the city of Seattle, its surrounding areas, and the whole northern portion of the Twelfth Federal Reserve District. As public servants with a presence in this area for nearly 90 years," she said, "we have learned a lot about the importance of the public's trust. It is our most valuable asset. We know we have to earn it every year, every week, and every day. We believe this new building is a key part of that effort here and that it affirms the vital role the Seattle branch plays in the Federal Reserve."

Federal Reserve Governor Mark Olson said that the branches of the Federal Reserve System play an important role through their local Boards of Directors, which provide grassroots input on the economy that is factored into the interest rate recommendations made by each District Bank to the Board of Governors. "Our branch offices and their Boards are our connection to the people that drive the economy," Olson said.

Colored renderings and a scale model of the new building designed by Boora Architects of Portland, Oregon were unveiled at the event. The 95,000 square foot building is expected to open for business in late 2007. Hoffman Construction has been selected as the general contractor/construction manager for the project.

The new building will house approximately 100 employees who work in cash services, administration, human resources, customer support, Economic Education and Public Programs, facilities, procurement, police services and information technology. The Branch's check services operations are staffed by 50-plus additional employees in leased space in Tukwila, allowing for more flexibility in a fluctuating market. At a later date, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco plans to put its downtown Seattle Branch building on the market for sale.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco provides wholesale banking services to financial institutions in the nine western states through its head office in San Francisco, branch offices in Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle, and a cash processing office in Phoenix. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates monetary policy, serves as a bank regulator, administers consumer protection laws, and is fiscal agent for the U.S. government.

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