“He stepped into a mess,” said architectural historian Michael Sean Sullivan, who consulted with Daniels on the project. Seattle had already been shocked by the 1992 wrecking of the historic Music Hall Theatre, and other losses. Historic churches in other cities were similarly threatened, and preservation of the First United Methodist Church building, the last of its kind in the center of Seattle, quickly became a national cause célèbre. It was one of the nation’s Most Endangered Historic Places, according to a list prepared by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

National support helped, but it didn’t get the project done. What made it pencil for Daniels is the rest of the half-block parcel, which had held a mid-century church activities building. It just happened to be big enough to replace with a tower alongside the church.

Daniels approached the church with a proposal and won approval in 2007. He worked with architect ZGF to come up with a redevelopment plan. The great recession would come and go, delaying construction after a start in 2008, so that The Mark did not top out until 2016. The renovation of The Sanctuary didn’t begin until late in 2015.

Daniels had taken on a big problem along with his property deal. The old church building had to be rebuilt in order to be saved. The century-old original structure, with bricks laid by the hands of church members, was cracked. And to meet modern seismic code, the walls had to be thickened from the inside with about 10 inches of steel and concrete.

Done — even though every bit of original glass and interior woodwork and molding had to be removed, restored and put back into a slightly smaller space.

The bar at the Sanctuary. (Photo by Clair Enlow)

Now it may be the safest place in town to be in a quake, according to Daniels, who puts the cost of the preservation effort at $40 million. The hardest preservation pill for him to swallow was the reinforcement of the huge dome over the sanctuary. It’s a long span, but because of its anciently derived geometry, it’s actually pretty stable, according to architectural historian Sullivan.

In an earthquake, when a building like this becomes weightless in mid-shake, it’s the walls that crumble, not the dome, he said. But the city’s plan reviewers were nervous. To satisfy evolving city standards for bringing old structures up to modern code, it had to be reinforced with a specially formulated hard coating. “Like a 747,” Daniels said.

Most of the magnificent full-wall pipe organ was shipped to a church in Oregon, with only a few pipes remaining for decoration. The restored concert grand, once belonging to the congregation and eventually found on Craigslist, now has a place of honor next to the silent organ wall.

A hotel entry by the Sanctuary. (Photo by Daniels Real Estate)

Next door in The Mark, five-star international hotel guests will bask in luxury in the lower floors, and the offices above will get power views. The mixed-use office and luxury hotel-in-a-tower is a dramatic counter to the weight of the historic money sink next door.

According to Seattle architect Allyn Stellmacher, the tight site led directly to the faceted glass and steel geometry of the tower. The tower cants slightly away from its base into the air space over two historic structures: The Sanctuary and the Rainier Club, on the western half of the block.

The relationship between The Mark and The Sanctuary is complicated. They’re joined through a ground-level atrium that envelops much of The Sanctuary’s historic brick and terra cotta exterior wall. Structural bracing leading to the tower above adds to the drama of the in-between space. In addition to serving as part of a passage between the old and new buildings, it will be used as a reception area for events in The Sanctuary.