Fisher Plaza

Hines Global REIT Inc. is paying $160 million to buy Fisher Plaza, a purchase that includes the headquarters building and data center operation of Fisher Communications. In a press release, executives at Hines pointed specifically to the data center as a reason for its interest in the 300,000 square-foot facility, located in the shadow of Seattle’s Space Needle.

“We are happy to have the opportunity to invest in the highest quality multi-tenanted data center in the region, with outstanding access to telecommunication providers,” said Hines Vice President Ty Bennion. “We are especially pleased to be starting a long-term relationship with the leading broadcast media company in the Pacific Northwest.”

The Fisher Plaza data center

Fisher Communications is the operator of KOMO TV and KOMO Radio in Seattle. In a statement, Fisher CEO Colleen Brown noted that Fisher Plaza is “not a central component of our business model.” As a result of the transaction, Fisher plans to remain in the building with a 12-year lease.

A fire in the data center at Fisher Plaza in 2009

The transaction concludes a process that began in early 2008, when Fisher initiated a review of alternatives to maximize the value of Fisher Plaza. The process was suspended in November 2008 due to financial market conditions. Fisher resumed its efforts to sell the property in March 2011.

A July 2009 fire at the Fisher Plaza data center caused more than $6 million in damages, and knocked sites such as Bing Travel, Authorize.net, AllRecipes.com and others offline for several days.

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