Seattle Art Museum Recovers with Nordstrom’s Help

Image via Unbeige

The financial crisis hit museums hard. They watched their endowments slip in value and the valuable financial help from well-heeled patrons slowed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art saw its endowment drop 26 percent in the last fiscal year, from from $2.51 billion to $1.86 billion. One point eight-six billion may still seem like plenty of money, and it is a lot, but it’s all relative. The Met had to cut several hundred staff positions this year, and they closed many of their retail shops.

Considering how this drop affected one of the world’s largest and best-funded museum, one can imagine how smaller museums, like the Seattle Art Museum, were damaged by the crisis. The biggest problem for the Seattle Art Museum was the loss of Washington Mutual as a renter in its building. When Washington Mutual went under in the collapse and was absorbed by JP Morgan, the decision was made to break the lease agreement that paid the museum $5.8 million a year in rent. The move left the Seattle Art Museum $60 million in the hole due to the cost of it new building.

Nearly a year later, the story now has a happy ending. Nordstrom, the department store chain, has stepped in to rent the space formerly rented by Washington Mutual. The new tenant will make up for 75 percent of the cost lost by the museum in the Washington Mutual debacle. So, finally, a bit of good news on the financial front for museums.

via Seattle Art Museum Saved by Nordstrom Coming in as New Tenant.