Columbia Center (formerly Bank of America Tower and Columbia Seafirst Center) is the tallest skyscraper in the downtown Seattle skyline and the tallest building in the State of Washington. At 287.4264 m (943.000 ft) it is currently the second tallest structure on the West Coast (after Los Angeles's 72 story U.S. Bank Tower). The tower has the tallest public viewing area on the West Coast and west of the Mississippi. It occupies most of the block bounded by Fourth and Fifth Avenues and Cherry and Columbia Streets. It contains 76 stories of class-A office space above ground and seven stories of various use below ground, making it the building with the most stories west of the Mississippi. Construction of this building began in 1982 and finished in 1985. It was designed by Chester L. Lindsey Architects who also designed the Fourth and Blanchard Building in the Belltown neighborhood, and was built by Howard S.