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- So are you doing opening remarks-
at three?
- Tija Petrovich knows Pioneer Square.
- Fabulous. It's a little microcosm.
- She has lived here
for more than 30 years and says
she's not going anywhere else.
This is home to her.
- I've lived in several of Seattle's neighborhoods.
All neighborhoods
are so interesting and so unique.
This one it stopped,
stopped me, and it stopped my heart.
- Tija was a longtime
local business owner and has served
on the Pioneer Square Preservation Board.
She says she appreciates
the height limits
on buildings because it helps
to preserve the historic charm
and neighborhood feel.
- That makes a whole bunch of us very close.
We're not escaping to high rise in the sky.
We're all very close,
which means we're always on the street together.
We're always out together.
We know each other.
We see each other very, very neighborhood.
Like,
I know who I'm walking by and around
and all of the small businesses.
I could go on and on.
Hans, what are you doing today?
- Tija, along with many of her neighbors,
are excited
to see the thoughtful work
going into several
projects in Pioneer Square
focused both on historical
preservation and sustainability
in a big way.
Populus Seattle
opened in May of 2025,
in the historic Westland Building.
The hotel is a project
by Urban Villages
and is part of their Railspur development,
which includes three historic buildings.
- Originally, the front
door of these buildings were in the alleyways
because that's where the railroad
would come through.
And so,
when we were looking at this site,
we studied it, and we really wanted
to turn the buildings and on one another
and kind of bring that, that feel back.
- Populous Seattle is carbon negative.
With construction,
they focused on adaptive reuse
by repurposing the historic building.
And estimate
they kept about 80% of the original structure.
They also used
low carbon construction materials like concrete
and recycled materials
that are built to last for many years.
They also participate in Seattle
City Lights Green Up program
and Puget Sound Energy's
Renewable Natural Gas program.
- And even where there's places where maybe
the existing building was
in, parts of it were inconvenient.
They embraced that.
And that made this a very special
and maybe quirky,
but interesting and inviting place to be.
Most of the the pieces were able
to be reused in a very meaningful way.
That gives this place even more character.
It's not lost. It's still here.
- There's so much innovation
assigned to this idea of preservation as like
a motivator to make sure that it exists forever.
Adapting, whether it's the rooftops
to be these community spaces.
Bringing back the idea of hand-painted
signs in the neighborhood.
It's like this thing that, is upholding
tradition rather than like,
you know, ending it.
So it's
making sure that that's a part of
the equation is always the key.
Populus Seattle even operates on 100%
renewable power,
and they will plant a tree for every stay.
But it's not just about trees.
They're even honoring
the original wood that was used.
It's something you can even smell
- When they increased the size
and make structural,
things, whether that's from acoustical caulking
to increasing beams throughout the space.
All of the original Douglas
fir beams were treated
so that they could last the 20 year footprint,
and that are positive carbon
credits provide us.
And that just creates this really unique smell
that can be dated all the way
back to the early 1900s.
The wood in textiles carries such a deep
memory,
and they hold on to history
the same way that people do.
- Populus Seattle has three restaurants on site.
They compost their food, waste
and source local food whenever possible.
- Gentlemen,
- The rooftop bar called Firn is also very unique
in Pioneer Square,
- A new way to experience Pioneer
Square is up on the rooftops,
and before it was, it was difficult to get up.
Most of it was privatized.
That allows you
to see the city from a unique vantage point.
- Something else that makes this hotel
unique is all of the art.
More than 300 works are not only on display,
but are also for sale,
providing local artists
with exposure and also funding.
There's even art outside in the alley
that has also been thoughtfully updated.
- The activation of the Pioneer Square
alleys has been a vision
for a long time that's been slowly
being implemented.
This is just going to
completely blow it wide open.
This is going to be
the culmination of that, I think.
And once people see it, I think there
will be other people to have ideas to do it.
Elsewhere in Pioneer Square.
- And while Populus Seattle is an incredible
example of sustainability,
it's the thought and care in
preserving the historical elements
that residents say is equally important.
So Pioneer Square still feels like
Seattle's oldest neighborhood.
- Populous is a great example
of the adaptive reuse, where you know,
someone came in and saw potential in a building,
sites, old bones, and knew
how to take it forward in a way that's
both environmentally friendly,
brings economic vitality to the neighborhood,
and really serves as a gathering place
for the neighborhood.
- We're walking with our own DNA and the past
towards the future.
That's the part it gives me chills.
That's the part
that really excites me about living here.
So modernizing it, great.
But let's keep a hand
handle on that reign a bit,
because you really don't want to lose your base,
your core, because it always feels like home.
You know, others have walked here before you.
It's a privilege
and it inspires people to do the same.
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