SEATTLE—The Metropolitan Tract in Seattle'sDowntown will be the site of a new 58-story towerwith 790,000 square feet of office and 30,000 square feet of retailand 180 residential units. The last in a series of leases datingback to 1904 expired last week, making way for control of the10-acre property to revert to Universityof Washington, which will work with developers to add thenew high-rise, and a hotel to the tract which is in the city'sCBD.

On November 1, 1904, the University's Board ofRegents approved a ground lease to James A. Moore,which was one of a series of leases with different and evolvingentities. Last week, 110 years after that first ground leasewas approved, and 153 years after the property was donated byArthur Denny and two other pioneer families, theTerrys and the Landers, theUniversity of Washington (UW) will again take unencumberedownership of the Metropolitan Tract.

Unico Properties LLC, a real estate investmentand operating company, has had a 60-yearpartnership with the UW, operating under a ground lease todevelop, manage and lease the properties on the Metropolitan Tract.That lease ended October 31. Unico, which participated in acompetitive bid process, was selected by the UW to continueto provide property management and leasing services forthe Metropolitan Tract.