Teatro Zinzanni property sold; future uncertain
Jan 9, 2017, 5:37 PM | Updated: Jan 10, 2017, 7:02 am
Teatro-Zinzanni ad. (Christopher Carfi, Flickr)
(Christopher Carfi, Flickr)
The future location of Seattle鈥檚 popular might be in question after its Mercer Street property was recently sold to developers.
City and state records show that the nonprofit Seattle Opera recently entered into a contract to sell the parcel on the 200 block of Mercer to , which in turn is owned by Washington Holdings, a Seattle-based real estate development company.
Both Aiden Lang, general director of the and Craig Wrench, President and CEO , confirmed the pending sale. But given that the deal remains in escrow until Feb. 28, neither would talk about the sale or about the future of the land鈥檚 primary tenant, Teatro Zinzanni.
Before declining further comment, Lang said only, 鈥淚 have no idea what (Washington Holdings) plans on doing with the property.鈥�
Washington Holdings, which has offices in 16 U.S. cities, on its website describes its business model as, 鈥淲e acquire and invest in land that has strong, fundamental commercial or residential potential.鈥�
The future of Teatro Zinzanni?
Zinzanni, , has been described as 鈥淐irque Du Soleil meets the Moulin Rouge.鈥� Zinzanni鈥檚 circus-meets-dinner-theatre show grew from a handful of performances 19 years ago into a semi-permanent tent in Belltown and then to a building on Mercer Street near Seattle Center in 2007.
The move from Belltown to Queen Anne nine years ago was
Neither Zinzanni鈥檚 , the executive director or , the theater鈥檚 executive producer, returned calls seeking comment.
In 2000, the Kreielsheimer Foundation (which, in turn, leased a portion of it to Zinzanni). The land was earmarked as a new home to the opera or as a potential sale to raise money for the nonprofit. When the Seattle Opera decided to restore the last year, the land was put up for sale.
