Martin Selig – The Seattle Real Estate Billionaire
Martin Selig, a German-born American billionaire property developer, is known for his work in Seattle, Washington, including the 76-story Columbia Center, which is the city’s tallest building.
Selig is a Holocaust survivor, having been able to go into hiding from the Nazis and then immigrate to America with his family.
This experience has shaped his life and work, making him a passionate advocate for human rights and a generous philanthropist.
Martin Selig Bio
Born: 1936/1937 in Germany.
Nationality: American
Known for: Founder and owner of Martin Selig Real Estate
Spouse: Andrea Selig (divorced) Catherine Mayer
Children: Jordan Selig, Lauren Selig, David Selig
Net Worth: 1.4 billion USD (2022). Forbes
Source of wealth: Real estate
Martin Selig Early life
Martin Selig was born to a Jewish family in Germany. His father, Manfred Selig (1902-1992), was born in Buchen, Germany. He was the son of a horse-trader.
Manfred was in 1939 warned by a neighbour “that the Nazis had labeled him an undesirable”.
To ensure the safety of his family, he, his wife and two children quickly fled that same day.
The following day, the Nazis confiscated his home and business.
The Selig family hid in warehouses in Frankfurt, before heading eastwards via Poland, Russia, Korea and Japan.
They boarded a steamer to San Francisco, but chose Seattle simply because the boat stopped there and the sun was shining.
While in Seattle, Manfred Selig opened “Selig’s Linen Shop”, became an art collector and started a children’s clothing business.
Martin Selig Career
Selig worked for his father in his children’s clothing store prior to building his first shopping center in 1962.
In 1979, he had plans to build a 48 story building in Belltown but this was later cancelled after a string of protests arose from residents of Devonshire Apartments (a low-income housing property on the site).
Matin Selig has since then mostly built tall buildings in Seattle. This includes 2 blocks on Fifth Avenue known as Fifth & Jackson and Fifth & Yesler.
In the 1980s Martin Selig owned nearly one-third of Seattle’s total office space.
In 1985, he built the Columbia Center which to date is the city’s tallest building. He later sold it for $354 million in 1989.
In August 2015, it was reported that Selig had submitted plans to build a 31-story tower on top of the 1950s Federal Reserve Bank Building on 2nd Avenue.
He had purchased the building in a government auction for $16 million earlier in 2015.
According to him, the 2 buildings would be separated by what he described as a 36-foot high “winter garden”.
By October 2015, Martin Selig Real Estate owned approximately 4 million square feet of office space in Seattle. This made his net worth shoot up to $1.1 billion.
Martin Selig Net Worth
As of 2022, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $1.4 billion.
Notable Projects
- Columbia Center (owned until 1989): tallest building in Seattle since completion
- 1000 Second Avenue: company headquarters
- Fifth & Yesler Building
- Fifth & Jackson Building
- 1015 Second Avenue, at the site of Federal Reserve Bank Building
- Third and Lenora (planned to open in 2020)
Martin Selig Personal Life
In addition to being an art collector, Selig also paints and owns works by Rembrandt and Toulouse-Lautrec.
He and Andrea Selig were married but later divorced in 1995. They have three children: David Selig, Lauren Selig and Jordan Selig.
He later remarried artist Catherine Mayer.
Martin Selig’s Political Life
He is a Republican and regularly donates to political causes he believes in.
He endorsed and planned a fundraiser for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election though he later withdrew his support.
Surprisingly, he donated the maximum personal amount to Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.