stories. Each floor of the building would have one single specialty retail tenant with a tea room at the top. Henry Broderick, Inc. would manage the property. Construction begins Demolition of the old Melrose Hotel began on December 3, 1928. The building, originally a Victorian lodging house known as the Rosedale, was built in 1890 at the site of the post office. It was moved to 3rd Avenue and Pine Street in 7 pieces in 1901 to make way for its construction where it gained a brick ground floor as a result of the Denny Regrade and became the Federal Hotel. It was later clad completely in brick. As the site was cleared, architect Bittman awarded the construction contract to Hendrickson & Alstrom, general contractors. The University Brick & Tile Company once located on E. 40th street in the University District was responsible for much of the building's exterior terracotta. Construction began in January 1929 and was mostly completed by late August. Among the first tenants to sign on for the unique new building was the Shopping Tower Bargain Basement, a newly formed discount department store that would occupy the entire basement. Puget Sound Power and Light Company and Western Union also signed leases for space. Most of the twelfth floor was leased to Gene Hanner for a photography studio. A superficial 13th floor located below the roof was used for storage. Building opens to public The grand opening of the Bargain Basement on October 26, 1929, also marked the unofficial opening of the Shopping tower, though still not fully completed. The building soon had more tenants and officially opened to the public on November 2, 1929. The lobby of the building, on Pine Street, was decorated with marble and mahogany trimming and featured display cases for the various retail tenants to display their wares. Two high-speed, micro-leveling, signal controlling Otis elevators that served the building were also decorated with marble and bronze. A unique feature of the building at the time was the inclusion of a rooftop garden: Later in 1929, radio station KPBC, the predecessor to KIRO, opened a new studio in the building. The renamed station would move to the Cobb Building in 1935. Northwestern Mutual Insurance Building While a novel concept at first, the Great Depression soon revealed that the vertical shopping concept was not good for businesses trying to make themselves as visible as possible