I’ve spent most of this year working inside First Light. Showing residences, learning the building floor by floor, riding the same elevator up to 47 more times than I can count. And somewhere in there I kept having the same thought. I want the people I like to see this.
So on October 29th we invited them up. Friends, clients, brokers, a few people I’d only ever met on the phone. About fifty of them came. The clocks were about to fall back, which meant it was one of the last evenings of the year when the sun still goes down around six, and from the 47th floor that’s a show worth planning a party around.
Up the elevator
Getting into a tower like this for an evening isn’t nothing, and the building made it easy. The concierge had every name at the desk, there was an escort from the lobby and an elevator held for us. Before anyone reached the top they walked through the lobby, past the Fazioli grand piano and under the glass of The Veil, John Hogan’s piece that runs up the front of the building. Half the room asked me about the piano before they’d even found a drink.
The view did the work
You can describe the view from 47 all you want. It doesn’t land until you’re standing at the glass. The Sound off to the west, the Olympics behind it, the Space Needle close enough to feel like part of the building, and the Great Wheel lighting up on the waterfront as the sky went blue.
The weather did what Seattle weather does in late October. Sun when people arrived, then rain rolling in off the water. That turned out to be its own kind of gift. Everyone ended up together in the sunken lounge with the city in every window, and that’s where the best photo of the night came from.
Good food, good drinks, good people
Sarah Riley and the Riley Home Team handled the food, and it was fantastic. They set it up, ran it all night and made it look easy, which it is not on the 47th floor of a tower. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you to the whole team.
We also had a Glambot from Seattle Glambot on the deck. If you haven’t seen one, it’s a robotic camera arm that swings around you and shoots slow motion video in a few seconds. It was a hit until the rain shut it down. Next time it goes on the floor below, under the deck, where it stays dry.
Two tours, one toast
Jorge Rivera and I took two groups down to see residences, one at 5:10 and one at 6:10, including the penthouse on 45 and a home on the 29th floor. Splitting it in two meant nobody had to choose between the tour and the sunset.
Just before six I got everyone at the west glass for a toast. I told them three things I love about this building. The glass out front is a work of art, not cladding. The piano in the lobby is the kind concert halls fight over. And the name says it all, because light is the thread through everything here. Then I said the part I can’t take credit for. Every night this building gets this, and most nights nobody’s up there to see it. That night we were.
Why I did it this way
People ask why I’d throw a party instead of just running more showings. Here’s my honest answer. Nobody falls for a building from a listing. They fall for it standing at the glass with a drink in their hand, talking to someone they like, while the sun goes down. A residence here isn’t just square footage. It comes with the pool deck, the lounge, the garden on 48 and an evening like this one. The only way to show that is to let people live it for a night.
Thank you to Westbank and the First Light team for opening the building to us, to the concierge and building staff who kept everything running, and to every one of you who came up.
Want to see it?
If you missed it, or you came and want a second look in daylight, call me. I’ll walk you through First Light the way we did that night. It shows best in the last hour of light.
Ronny Wilson. 206.501.9090, ronny@ronnywilson.com. Licensed with Icon Real Estate Group.
