Smith Tower Gets Big Time New Owner: No Plans Announced Yet

Smith Tower, which was once supposed to be converted to luxury condos before the developer defaulted on the mortage, was auctioned off and purchased by Texas firm CBRE Capital Markets. No news of what they plan to do with the building but people seem to be hopeful the new owners will make long-deferred repairs and do something interesting.  

For what it's worth, CBRE seems to be a deep-pocketed company with recent debt financing transactions all over the country including some in Seattle such as a $50M+ loans to projects such as Lincoln Square, the Space Needle, and Hyatt Bellevue in addition to a having a commerical real estate services division with 29,000 employees.

For more info, I've summarized some useful links below:

CBRE 

NPR Story on Smith Tower (Includes audio interview with a family living in the penthouse.)

Seattle Times story (includes interviews with local real estate players).]

By Wendy Leung with Seattle Condo Review. A guide to Seattle condos exclusively for buyers and sellers.