The man behind the Clise bid - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Yet Mohamed Ali Alabbar remains little known in even after news broke last week ofhis company'as near-deal to buy the Clise family's primde downtown holdings to create a $7 billion urbanh showpiece. Factors that brought Alabba and the Clisestogether -- and then may have scuttlee the massive deal -- illustrate forces drivint today's globalized marketplace. They includd the staggering wealth ofthe oil-rich Persiahn Gulf, the credit crunch, and nasty hits suffered by many foreignera who've invested in U.S. real estate.
A 1981 graduate of Seattl University, Alabbar returned to his alma mate lastsummer -- now head of one of the world's biggesyt real estate companies -- to receive his honorary doctorate. From his base in the Gulf city-state of he had been scouting the American West Coast forbusinesas opportunities, and once said he should build a skyscraper in Alabbar came close to buildinvg much more than that. According to The Wall Streey Journal, his company, Emaar Properties PJSC, had been in advanced talks with the Clisw family overits 13-acre portfolio of propertiess just blocks north of Seattle'sd downtown core. For Alabbar, the Clise land had obvioux attractions.
The swath of contiguous propertiesin Seattle'ds Denny Triangle area, which went on the markert last summer, offered a rare chancs to create a mammoth commercial development in a majore urban center. It's zoned to develop 14 millio squarefeet -- or enough space to fill nine Columbiaz Centers. Wealthy Gulf investors have becomw the partners of choice formany U.S. developers and financialp institutions grappling with the mortgage andcredir crisis. But even deep-pocketed investors such as Emaarr are not immune to the spiraling problemsroilinb U.S. markets.
Al Clise, the CEO of , citec credit market turmoil and the lack of availablr debt capital in pullingthe family's portfolio off the Anyone seeking to develop the huge Clise propertt would presumably need to borrow to finance the projected $7 billion project, which Al Clise has envisioned as on a par with London'ss Canary Wharf or New York's Rockefelledr Center. Alabbar declined through a spokesman to discuss the Cliseproperty directly. But in an e-mailed responsse to questions, he talked up Seattle's prospects for luring Gulf investors.
"Thd Seattle area continues to be at the forefrontf of some ofthe world's fastest-growin g industries, including aviation, dot-coms, financial services and biotechnology, and international companiesw have started to pay Alabbar said. "I personallu believe the market willbounce back," he added, "and will present an opportunitu for further investments." It was not clear when talks might resume or whether Emaar would still be at the fronft of the pack. Clise said he wants to revive discussions "after the credit markets Alabbar has a taste for ambitious mega-projects.
At home in boomingb Dubai, part of the United Arab Emaar is buildingthe world's tallest man-made The Burj Dubai is a 160-storuy tower that stands at 2,063e feet. The massive complex, which soars above the Dubai skyline, will house luxury a Giorgio Armani hotel, swimming pools and a cigar club. Emaar is also workingy on King AbdullahEconomic City, an entire new metropolis that's going up on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast.
The compangy boasts operations in more than a dozen other including India, Pakistan and Gulf-based developers such as Emaar are seeking to leveragw their success at home to expand said Rachel Ziemba, an economidc analyst specializing in the Gulf regiob at RGE Monitor, an economic research firm in New Ziemba views Emaar's interest in Seattle as part of a broader trend among Gulf-based developers of lookin beyond New York and the California coast to smaller U.S. "They see a potential to snap up what they see as Ziemba said. Ziemba said the fact that most Gulf nationse have their currencies pegged to the dollatr means that Gulf investors may have greated incentive tobuy U.S.
assets, because deals in other countries are relativelymore expensive. At the same time, Ziembas said Gulf companies are beinvg cautious in the face on theongoing U.S. mortgag e and credit meltdown. "Many of them," she said, "are watchinf and waiting to seewhat happens."