Woldson gift to Gonzaga largest ever for university

Gonzaga University is now an owner of three prized Seattle waterfront properties worth in excess of $20 million – and potentially much more.

Although legally still in the hands of the estate of the late Myrtle Woldson, GU was named as beneficiary of the properties in the late businesswoman’s will.

Woldson, a skilled real estate investor, died last year at age 104.

Her bequest to Gonzaga of an estimated $55 million is a central piece of the university’s new $250 million capital campaign announced Thursday by GU President Thayne McCulloh.

The university has received $183 million in donations so far during what is considered the quiet phase of a large campaign to fund scholarships, buildings and program expansion.

Woldson purchased the three income-producing properties near the waterfront in 1994, and the bulk of the wealth that remained in her estate at her death came as a result of income from them, said McCulloh.

The most valuable piece, according to the King County assessor, is a surface parking lot of 35,000 square feet located on the west side of Western Avenue next to the Alaskan Way Viaduct between Spring and Seneca streets.

The assessor values it at $10.2 million. An adjacent parking garage on Western Avenue also was bequeathed to GU.

The value of the Seattle properties could increase substantially in coming years in part because the viaduct will be demolished, opening views of Elliott Bay, but also because downtown property continues to increase in value.

The elevated highway will be removed as part of a $3.1 billion project to send traffic through a new tunnel under downtown Seattle and turn the viaduct right of way into a surface street.

As a result, McCulloh said he is in no hurry to make any decisions about the future of the surface lot or the adjoining parking garage. They produce good income now, and he said he wants to proceed cautiously with expert help to maximize the value of the bequest.

The property is so strategic that the city of Seattle sought to purchase it from Woldson and later talked about condemning it.

Condemnation is no longer a threat, McCulloh said in an interview this week.

He said he has been working with the city of Seattle and waterfront owners on determining the best future for the site.

He noted that elsewhere in downtown Seattle, the University of Washington owns the land occupied by the historic Fairmont Olympic Hotel, which is just four to five blocks from the Woldson parking properties.

In 1994, the surface parking lot at 1100 Western Ave. was assessed at $2.8 million.

Woldson bought it for $2.75 million that year. Based on its current tax appraisal, the investment has nearly quadrupled in value, but it is likely worth even more than the tax value.

To the east at 1101 Western Ave. stands the Watermark Parking Garage on a separate 25,500-square-foot parcel.

That property is valued at $7 million by the King County Assessor.

To the north, at Pike Place Market, the Woldson estate owns a 24 percent share in a retail, residential and parking complex known as Hillclimb Court Condominium.

Woldson’s portion is valued at $3.9 million by the assessor. Woldson bought it for $1.8 million.

She bought all three properties in 1994 from Immunex Corp.

Based on current tax appraisals, the properties as a group have increased in value from two to four times the 1994 sales prices.

The gift is the largest ever to Gonzaga and the second-largest in state history.

A $56 million gift to the University of Washington School of Law is currently larger, but because the Woldson gift has potential to increase in value in coming years, it may in fact be the largest ever to a college in Washington.