At the time of its completion, the Columbia Center was the tallest structure on the West Coast; as of 2017[update], it is the fourth-tallest, behind buildings in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

[7] The Columbia Center, developed by Martin Selig and designed by Chester L. Lindsey Architects, began construction in 1982 and was completed in 1985.

The top two floors of the building (75th and 76th) are occupied by the private Columbia Tower Club, which houses a restaurant, bar, library, and meeting rooms.

An underground concourse connects the building to the nearby Seattle Municipal Tower and Bank of America Fifth Avenue Plaza.

The $120 million project, named the "Columbia Center", would be funded by the Seafirst Mortgage Company and constructed by Howard S.

[13] The Columbia Seafirst Center, as it came to be known, was constructed by Howard S. Wright starting in 1982 with a 120-foot (37 m) deep excavation hole that required 225,000 cubic yards (172,000 m3) of dirt and soil to be removed.

Selig continued to own and manage the building until 1989 when financial problems forced him to sell it to Seafirst Corporation for $354 million.

[24] The New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a 49.9% stake in the building and then several years later sold its share back to EQ Office.

[32] On June 16, 2004, the 9/11 Commission reported that the original plan for the September 11 attacks called for the hijacking of 10 planes, to be crashed into targets including the "tallest buildings in California and Washington state," which would have been the Columbia Center and the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, respectively.

About 2,000 firefighters from around the world yearly make the trek up 69 floors and 1,311 steps in full structural turnout gear while on air.