The Office of Urban Conservation was created in 1975 as part of the Department of Community Development (DCD). It was founded in an era of citizen protests against a proposed urban renewal program that would have demolished Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market. The office’s mandate was to coordinate Seattle’s historic preservation programs and administer the city’s landmark boards and historic districts. When DCD was abolished in 1992, the office became the Historic Preservation Program in the Department of Neighborhoods.

The International Special Review District was created by the City Council in 1973 in order to preserve the neighborhood’s unique Asian-American character. It was the only area in the continental United States where Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, and African Americans combined to build one neighborhood. The District contains early 20th-century hotels and commercial buildings, and part of the area is listed on the National Register. One focus of the Board in the 1970s was to encourage development of housing and pedestrian-friendly businesses, which was of special concern with the construction of the Kingdome just west of the neighborhood. The Office of Urban Conservation, and later the Historic Preservation Program, provided staffing to the board.