August 5, 2003
SEATTLE -- The venerable Olympic Hotel changed hands on Friday, after being purchased by Toronto-based Legacy Hotels Real Estate Investment Trust for about $105 million. The figure includes closing costs.
JMB Realty of Chicago had owned the 450-room luxury hotel since the early 1980s.
The change in ownership also means a change in name. Four Seasons had been under contract to manage the hotel for the remaining 40 years of JMB's lease agreement with the University of Washington, the actual owner of the property.
Under Legacy, which now owns the remainder of the lease, the hotel has been reflagged The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Seattle. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts operates 42 properties, mainly in Canada and the U.S., including the castlelike Fairmont Banff Springs in Alberta and the landmark Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, B.C.
The Olympic is the state's only AAA Five Diamond hotel.
