Selig Scion Splits With Troubled Seattle Development Firm

Jordan Selig, prospective heir of Martin Selig Real Estate and daughter of its embattled founder, has called it quits.

The executive vice president of the Seattle-based commercial developer announced her resignation from the firm founded by her 87-year-old father Martin Selig in 1958, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported. The company hasn’t named her replacement.

Jordan Selig said she will pursue her own ventures in real estate and technology.

The 67-year-old company, which built the tallest city in Seattle before losing the Columbia Center to its lenders, is on the ropes. The largest independent developer in the Pacific Northwest, Martin Selig Real Estate owns 31 office buildings, containing 4.9 million square feet.

Its combined debt adds up to at least $858 million, secured by office properties hammered by a pandemic shift to remote work, suppressing demand and driving values to historic lows.

Last week, Martin Selig Real Estate laid off 86 workers after seven buildings containing 1.1 million square feet of offices backed by $239 million in commercial mortgage-backed securities were shuttled into receivership. The company has tried to modify its loan since May.

Another $379 million in securities backed by nine older Seattle office buildings comes due this month.

In February, seven company-owned parking lots were turned over to a receiver.

In December, Martin Selig Real Estate defaulted on a $240 million loan on two newer office buildings, with the firm indicating it may hand the keys to its lender, Acore Capital. They include an ultra-green tower at 400 Westlake, next to the South Lake Union headquarters of Amazon.com.

Jordan Selig led the project, which she boasted five years ago during its construction to be the most sustainable office building of its size in the world, according to the Business Journal.

“I want to express my sincere gratitude to my colleagues and the entire MSRE team,” she said in a statement, while heading toward the exit. “The depth of character, resilience and expertise that I have been lucky to be a part of at MSRE will always set the standard for anything I do.

“These are challenging times for the commercial real estate industry, and I know that the MSRE executive team will continue to navigate these waters with resilience and vision.”

— Dana Bartholomew