Local developer Martin Selig may have found a way to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
The legendary 78-year-old developer picked up the former Federal Reserve Building at 1015 Second Ave. for just $16 million in a government auction earlier this year.
The prime half-block property, once considered by Seattle Public Schools as a downtown school site, drew just eight bidders when auctioned by the federal government in February because the landmarked property would be costly to rehabilitate and can’t be demolished to clear the way for a new skyscraper.
Selig, who built the 76-story Columbia Center, the city’s tallest skyscraper, isn’t deterred.