SEATTLE - Downtown Seattle's real estate market and local nonprofit groups could take a big hit from Washington Mutual's sale to JPMorgan Chase.

All eyes may be on the 42-story headquarters building that towers over the city, but WaMu's impact on Seattle went well beyond that. In real estate terms alone, the company owned 5 percent of downtown.

And nonprofit groups benefited big from WaMu contributions as well. Now, those groups are looking to JPMorgan Chase for help.

"They're one of the big players obviously. That's why they're getting all the attention," says Oscar Oliveira, senior vice president of Colliers International.

He says thousands of square feet of office space on Third Avenue could be the first to shut down if JPMorgan Chase decides to tighten its operation. That would drive the vacancy rate downtown up 2 percent.

"It's too early to tell. It's not as big of a concern yet. It's something that's looming," he says.

The local arts community is taking a wait-and-see approach as well.

Washington Mutual was a major donor to the Seattle Art Museum and sponsored community events. A space named after the company sits at the heart of the building.

"This is really great space where families can come in and pull out art supplies, and really expand the experience of the museum, and I think that's the kind of programs they liked to fund," says Nicole Chism Griffin of the Art Museum.

She wouldn't speculate on the impact of WaMu's collapse on the museum. But Jim Tune, president of the Arts Fund, says his group will take a big hit.

Tune helps raise money for 70 different local arts groups, and relied on Washington Mutual for a $100,000 donation every year.

"At the end of the day we can't distribute money that we don't have," he says. "If we don't reach our fundraising goals we will have to reduce distributions to our art groups."

The Downtown Seattle Association tells me it's tough to put a number of Washington Mutual's impact on nonprofit groups.

But many say they're hopeful JPMorgan Chase will make the same kinds of investments in the community.