The National Register of Historic Places Nomination contains a statement of significance for these three buildings and it reads:
The Globe Building, Beebe Building, and the Hotel Cecil occupy the western half of a block facing Seattle*s First Avenue and bordered by Madison Street to the south and Spring Street to the north. They were designed by the same architect, and despite their differences in style, they express an unusual harmony of character, materials, and scale. They form the last block of ca. 1900 buildings on First Avenue, and represent a new building effort to accommodate the needs brought about by the rush, to the Alaskan gold fields. The Globe Building in particular was a pivot point for much, of Seattle's growth in the 20th century.
Commercial development along Seattle's First Avenue was restricted largely to the Pioneer Square area until after the fire of 1889. Soon after rebuilding began, the center of the commercial district began to expand northward, and brick commercial buildings steadily replaced the residences located on what were becoming the city's major streets. The Holyoke Building (National Register, 1976), started before the fire and completed in 1890, was the first major office building erected on First Avenue north of Madison Street. It was followed in the 1890's by the sporadic development of additional lots and the construction of several other large commercial buildings generally representative of late Victorian architecture.
The pace :of development accelerated markedly, however., in 1897 and 1898 when the Klondike gold rush suddenly boosted Seattle's economy and growth$ and Seattle-became the pre-eminent point of departure for the gold fields. One of the immediate demands created was that for conveniently located and moderately priced hotels and rooming houses to serve transient miners, sailors, and businessmen. Along with others in the First Avenue area, the Hotel Cecil was put up to accommodate that trade.
The Hotel Cecil opened its doors in 1901, and began an unsteady path that lasted for two decades. Sometimes it was called the Hotel Cecil and sometimes the Cecil Hotel, and sometimes it was open and sometimes it was not. It seems to have been closed almost continuously beginning in 1910, but reopened again in 1921 as the New Cecil Hotel, but on Third Avenue rather than in the building on First and Spring. In that same year — 1921 — the Hotel Cecil building began a new existence as the Arlington Hotel. The Arlington was originally located two blocks to the north, but it acquired and remodeled both the Hotel Cecil and the Beebe, and opened as the New Arlington Hotel, also known briefly as the New Dollington. Entry was through the First Avenue facade of the Hotel Cecil, and the floors of the hotel extended into the Beebe Building; promotional sketches show two additional stories added to the Beebe Building, but these were never completed.
The Arlington was a more genteel establishment than the other hotels along First Avenue, and it sought patrons not only among the transients inspired by the Alaskan goldfields but also from the less rowdy businessmen. It was still close enough to the commercial district so that it could claim reasonably to be a businessmen's hotel, and it offered special amenities in its 200 rooms, such as telephones and hot and cold running water.
An additional amenity was a parking garage, an early adaptation and recognition of the coming age of the motor car. Garage space was provided on the Post Avenue side, and extended not only under the two buildings of the New Arlington, but also under the third building on the block, the Globe Building.
The Globe Building was a key structure in Seattle before World War I. The Globe Building was the product of James W. Clise (1855 1938), one of the city's most prominent businessmen and it was the headquarters of his many interests. In it were the offices of several Clise firms: the Globe Navigation Company, the Globe Investment Company, and the Globe Construction Company. Occupying the key first floor corner office was the Washington Trust Company, organized by Clise and one of the strongest banking institutions in the city at that time. Clise had a hand in almost every major effort that contributed to Seattle's growth. It was he who persuaded L.C. Smith to erect the Smith Tower, the 42 story building, long a community landmark. He served as the first president of the Seattle Lighting Company, and helped in the efforts to acquire land on Magnolia Bluff for the development of Fort Lawton (National Register, 1978). He was also active in securing the site of the University of Washington campus near Lake Washington, and the land for the Lake Washington Ship Canal (National Register, 1978). He invested in one of the first private irrigation projects in eastern Washington, and as part of his agricultural interests, developed a 450 acre dairy farm and bred highly successful dairy herds.
From 1901 to 1917, the Globe Building was the focus of all the business activities of J.W. Clise. But by the latter year, his Washington Securities Company had completed the new Securities Building, and the Clise offices left the Globe Building for its new address closer to the city's business core. Tenants of the Globe Building now began to reflect the theme of First Avenue as a workingman's resource, and inexpensive restaurants, tailors, and pawn shops appeared in its storefronts. For a few years in the 1930's, it housed a public market.
All three buildings on the block were the work of the same architect. Max Umbrecht (1872-1955) was born in Syracuse, New York, where his immigrant grandfather was a bridge builder and his father a building contractor. The young Umbrecht learned architectural design through the apprentice system, including a period served with the firm of Merritt and Randall in New York City. His work thereafter was characterized by a preference for formal detail and balance, and a use of large openings for maximum lighting. Umbrecht came to Seattle around 1900, concentrating his practice on private residences. He designed the James W. Clise House (National Register, 1973) and the Caroline Kline Galland House (National Register, 1980), and is also credited with the Hofius House at 1104 Spring Street and the residence at 1729 17th Avenue. He returned to Syracuse in 1922, and was active in architecture until his death.
The Globe Building, Beebe Building, and the Hotel Cecil comprise an unusually intact block that represents not only a vital segment in Seattle's past, but also a unique collection exhibiting the diversity of a single architect. Seldom can such significance be found in a compact collection of structures.