Perkins Building, Historic office building in Tacoma, Washington, United States

The Perkins Building is an eight-story office building featuring a rigid frame structure and brick facade in the Chicago School style at 1101 South A Street. It has been converted into residential condominiums, offices, and retail spaces following an extensive renovation in 2004.

The building was constructed in 1907 and initially served as a printing plant for the Tacoma Ledger and Daily News newspapers. After those publications ceased operations in 1937, the structure transitioned to different uses and eventually underwent major renovation.

The building is named for Sam Perkins, founder of the Tacoma Ledger, which published from 1880; Frank L. Baker, owner of the Tacoma News Tribune, bought the paper in 1918 and it ran until 1937. The University of Washington Tacoma opened in the building in 1990, chosen partly for its capacity, and stayed until a permanent campus was built further south.

The Perkins Building stands at 1101 South A Street, with its southern half added in 1909 at 1105-1107 A Street. The top four floors are private one- and two-bedroom apartments, so visitors see the brick facade and ground-level retail and office entrances from the street. A basement parking garage, the first on the West Coast, serves the building.

The structure was the tallest reinforced concrete building in the Northwest when built and housed the first basement parking garage on the West Coast. These features made it a pioneering example of early 1900s engineering innovation.