It was reported today that the Clise family, whom played a huge role in rebuilding Seattle after the Great Fire and also founded Children's Hospital, has made the decision to halt talks on the sale of the family owned 13 acres of real estate in Denny Triangle. Al Clise, the 4th generation chairman of Clise Properties Inc, has cited the current credit markets as the reason for the removal of the real estate from the market. “The financing is not available for a project of this size,” Clise said. “The way the credit markets are today, these deals are not happening. They aren't being financed.”
The Wall Street Journal, citing a source “familiar with the matter”, reported that Clise had been in negotiations with Emaar Properties, a real estate firm based in Dubai. Vulcan Real Estate was also reported as contacting Clise about the acreage, as well as Irvine, CA based SunCal Companies.
Under city zoning rules, the land is zoned for 14.2 million square feet of office, residential and retail development. The minimum requirement to bid was $600 million and Clise received 15 final submissions to purchase.
I am excited to see what ends up happening here once the property is put back on the market and the deal is done. It sounds like Clise wants the Buyer to have the same vision for the land as they do. He stated in a press release that the lead bidder “…shared our vision for a world-class redevelopment project on par with London's Canary Wharf or New York's Rockefeller Center”. Oooooh…fancy:)