SAM and Nordstrom: civic, business partnership

SEATTLE'S business and civic leaders take note: Nordstrom's lease of 182,000 square feet of office space from the Seattle Art Museum is a real estate win-win and an illustrative reminder that business and civic partnerships support our vibrant downtown.

Before this holiday deal perked up financial bottom lines, SAM was reeling from the loss of a major tenant. Washington Mutual had leased eight floors of a 16-story tower before the thrift's collapse. WaMu's departure, along with $5.8 million a year in rent, left a sizable hole in the museum's finances.

Up stepped Nordstrom, which had been looking to consolidate its far-flung downtown operations. The retailer will lease a total of 265,000 square feet — the difference rented from another landlord. That is the bulk of the space previously leased by WaMu. The depressed downtown office market offered Nordstrom a bargain and offered SAM rental income that will make up about 75 percent of the financial hit it took when WaMu left.

The deal continues a tradition of civic-minded business deals best illustrated during the downtown revitalization efforts of former Mayor Norm Rice.

It is doubtful this could have happened without another key player from the Rice days: Matt Griffin of the Pine Street Group. In the 1990s, Griffin helped piece together the complex downtown redevelopment deal that put Nordstrom's flagship store in the vacant Frederick and Nelson building at Sixth and Pine.

Strong and enduring ties helped ink a deal that strengthens Seattle's retail core and keeps a treasured civic institution financially healthy. Seattle is lucky. Nordstrom is an international retailer with great hometown sensibilities.

Prospering for more than a century with a broadly recognized adherence to old-fashioned customer service, Nordstrom has also never forgotten its allegiance to Seattle.