TACOMA Project Discussion

[jake840]

Yeah that is the new design above.

This is the first design:

Image from Exit133.com

Second design:

Image from FeedTacoma.com

[jake840]

The crane is up at the Jackson Building at 25th and Yakima Ave. in the McCarver.

[Tacoma Boy]

Nice to see that thing going up. I drove by last week just before the crane went up, and it was moving along pretty quickly.
Residences and a grocery store=a winning combo.

I scoured the 'net and found no renderings. Seen any, Jake? If it turns out even half as nice as the new Goodwill, it'll be a major win.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by jake840

Yeah that is the new design above.

This is the first design:

Image from Exit133.com

Second design:

Image from FeedTacoma.com

My first thought was it looks like a Holiday Inn...then I realized it was a Holiday Inn.

[jake840]

Luzon Building to come down

Posted by Marce Edwards @ 02:15:38 pm

Decades of neglect and a sour economy today took their toll on one of downtown Tacoma's most historic buildings.

The City of Tacoma, declaring the six-story Luzon Building at South 13th Street and Pacific Avenue in imminent danger of collapse, today ordered its demolition.

Crews from the demolition contractor are expected to mobilize on the site by the middle of next week and demolish the structure the weekend of Sept. 26 and Sept. 27.

The order to raze the building, one of only two structures remaining on the West Coast designed by famed Chicago architects Daniel Burnham and John Root, came after months of negotiations among the city, the building's present owners, an adjacent landowner and a prospective rescuer led to naught.

The three private parties, said Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson, couldn't reach agreement on a deal to save the structure.

Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma called the building's demolition tragic but necessary.

The City Council learned of the building's imminent demise today at an early afternoon study session.

[More:]

Just two weeks ago, the city's building code enforcement officials had hoped to brace up the building to prevent its collapse, but further engineering studies revealed that bracing wouldn't have been feasible, said Charlie Solverson, the city's chief building official.

The city had hoped to hold up the building's north wall with large steel braces positioned in the middle of South 13th Street.

But later study showed that the structure's west wall was also in danger of collapse onto Commerce Street. Solverson at midday ordered that street barricaded for safety east of the Sound Transit light rail tracks to protect the public.

The city had already blocked off South 13th Street between Commerce Street and Pacific Avenue several weeks ago because of the danger from a north wall leaning four of five inches toward that street. At the same time the city had blocked off one southbound lane of Pacific Avenue.

The demolition will cost the city about $600,000, Anderson told the council, with the expanses being assessed against the building owners, the Gintz Group, as a lien on the property.

Anderson said the city will likely end up owning the property, which is likely not worth as much as the cost of the demolition.

The city's Landmarks Preservation Committee will hold an emergency session Wednesday afternoon at the Luzon site to discuss what artifacts it wants the city to save from the demolished building.

Because the structure is in such a fragile state, said Solverson, salvagers won't be able to enter the building to save historic pieces. Instead, they'll have to sort through the debris for significant items once the building is pulled down.

The demolition will be complicated by the fact that the building's walls, ceilings and its plumbing contain potentially cancer-causing asbestos. That means that demolition workers will be wearing protective clothing and that the site will be doused with water sprays to keep the asbestos fibers from becoming airborne, Solverson said.

The structure will be reduced to a pile of bricks, wood and cast iron in two days, but the cleanup is likely to take five or six weeks more, said the city.

The building's resurrection has been an on-again, off-again tale for much of the summer. The building's present owner, Tacoma's Gintz Group, had hoped to rehab the structure and rent two floors to retailers and four to office users.

But the plan collapsed when the economy turned sour and the Gintz Group couldn't find enough tenants to satisfy its lender's new requirements.

A potential savior entered the picture in late summer. Igor Kunitsa, a Tacoma contractor, said he had the funds to rebuild the Luzon, but he had to buy it from the Gintz Group first.

Gintz rejected Kunitsa's first offers as too low, but according to sources close to the negotiations, Gintz recently agreed to take $200,000 for the building.

But then an additional complication upset the deal. Mike Bartlett, an Oakland, Calif. developer who owns a parcel of land adjacent to the Luzon, told Kunitsa he would honor an agreement that Bartlett had with the Gintz Group. That deal would allow Kunitsa to build a six-story concrete elevator and utility tower on Bartlett's property next to the Luzon. But that agreement had a mid-March expiration date, and Bartlett wouldn't extend that deadline.

Kunitsa was unwilling to risk that the tower could be built by March expiration date. The tower was an essential part of the Luzon rescue plan. The new tower would be the solid base to which the old building would be tied structurally.

Bartlett said he was willing to sell the property for the tower to Kunitsa for $200,000. That price, however, changed the economics of the deal, making the new building financially unfeasible.

Solverson said the city continues to work with the Gintz Group, with Kunitsa and with Bartlett in hopes they still could put together a deal, but the likelihood appeared to be remote.

City councilmembers said they were sad to see the building rescue efforts end so badly, but the demolition has some positive aspects.

Downtown will be rid of a prominent eyesore that has become a safety hazard to the citizens, said some councilmembers, and the blockage of South 13th Street and Pacific Avenue will end.

"I think it is time to move on," said councilmember Marilyn Strickland.

More on:

Exit133.com
Tacoma Daily Index


Photo from Tacoma Daily Index

Sad day for historic buildings own:

[mSeattle]

That's too bad. I like that building. Would have made a nice restoration. Fortunately Tacoma has been able to save a number of other buildings through the UW-T presence.

I'll be happy if they save the old Elks building. That will be a bigger save.

[Tacoma Boy]

Sorry I've been AWOL for so long. I work too much, I think. Anyway, here's a brief rundown of some projects. I didn't cover the Proctor Safeway & Stadium Thriftway expansions, and I didn't hit the Nalley Valley viaduct. That one deserves a thread of it's own.
Anyway, away we go!

Urban Waters
LEED Platinum on the Foss waterway. A joint project between the City and the UW. Will house research for the UW and environmental offices for the City.







Joy Building restoration
The century-old Joy Building is getting restored by the UWT into classes, offices and street-level retail on Pacific Ave. These photos are from behind it, on 17th





Murray Morgan Bridge repair and restoration
This historic bridge was built in 1912 and was a source of pride, and a giant "giving the finger" to the Railroads at the time. It was part of SR-509 for decades. When the State built the new Cable Stay bridge 15 years ago, they handed back to the city the Murray Morgan... which the State had neglected for years. Well now, we're finally getting the bridge fixed. New cables and other work to come after.

Replacing the cables is no small ordeal, it involves putting the deck up on trusses, resting the enormous counterweights in the deck and then putting it all back together. Expected to take 6 weeks.











Jackson Building
Going up on 25th & Yakima. 5 stories of apartments, 1 floor of parking, 1 floor of retail on the bottom... slated to be a "boutique grocery" store. Not sure what store the boutique grocery is going to be, but hey. Run with it.
The building has good height, good location and good size. Plus the store has 5 floors of built-in customers. What's not to like?

[Tacoma Boy]

I don't have an official name for this project. It's been referred to as the "Walsh Project" on FeedTacoma, so I'll stick with it. I'm told it's a senior housing project.

It's on 18th & G... literally directly in front of St Joe's (if one is looking up from downtown).

The hole is big, I see rebar, heavy equipment and a tall crane.
I'd say the crane is probably about 100' tall or so. Much taller than the one at the Jackson Building. I know a certain amount of height is required to clear trees/power lines, but this thing is MUCH taller than those. Bigger cranes=more $, so there is a reason for the madness.
Anyone (cough, Jake) seen a render of this thing or know more? I'd guess we're looking at at least 6 stories. Hopefully it reaches 8-10. I don't know what zoning allows for though.

[Vashon118]

The Commencement (02/06):

[jake840]

Elks project takes big step

JOHN GILLIE; Staff writer

McMenamins: Developers, Tacoma announce pick of Bellevue builder, Seattle architectural firm


A plan that would transform the site next door to downtown Tacoma’s historic but tattered former Elks Temple into a structure including a garage and apartment building took a big step forward.

The City of Tacoma and developers Grace Pleasants and Rick Moses announced Monday that they’ve picked a Bellevue construction company and a Seattle architectural firm to design and build the garage, retail and apartment structure adjacent to the venerable lodge building near Old City Hall.

The design-build team of GLY Construction Co. of Bellevue and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects of Seattle will design the new structure and manage its construction if the Tacoma City Council ratifies the selection next month.

The GLY-ZGF team was among four contractor-architect groups that responded to the city’s request for qualifications to create the project.

“We were very pleased at the expertise and experience that the two firms will bring to this project,” said Ellie Walkowiak, project manager for the city’s Community and Economic Development Department.

Pleasants, one of the co-developers for the Elks project, said the two companies have an extensive portfolio of major projects they’ve created.

“Grace and I are beyond pleased to have such a highly qualified team working on the Elks project,” said Pleasants’ development partner Rick Moses in an e-mail. “GLY and ZGF are the best in the business, and we are confident they will deliver an outstanding product for the City of Tacoma.”

GLY has built much of Microsoft’s corporate headquarters campus and is currently building the first phase of Amazon.com’s new headquarters near Lake Union. ZGF has designed Safeco’s corporate office expansion; major university buildings at the University of Oregon, the University of Arizona and Washington State University; the Oregon Convention Center; and Portland International Airport’s expansion.

The Elks project has three major partners. The City of Tacoma will build the 280-stall garage north of the former Elks Temple. That garage will support a six-story retail and apartment structure that Pleasants and her partner, Southern California entrepreneur Moses, will build.

Oregon-based McMenamins, a hotel and entertainment company, will remodel the old temple into a hotel, restaurant, brewpub and entertainment venue.

The city-owned garage will serve the hotel, the apartments and the retail space, which Pleasants and Moses hope to lease to an upscale grocer.

The total project cost is expected to be about $42 million – $12 million for the hotel, $9 million for the garage and $21 million for the 70-unit apartment structure. The GLY-ZGF group is expected to design and build the apartment-retail complex that will sit atop the garage. McMenamins has selected Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects of Portland to design the hotel and entertainment center.

If the council approves the contract, said Walkowiak, design work will begin with a groundbreaking for the new structure set for November. Construction contracts for the structure will be bid this summer.

Before the groundbreaking can happen, Moses and Pleasants must secure financing for their portion of the project. Pleasants said the two are making good progress in securing financing and a grocery store tenant. Two grocery chains are considering the Broadway level as the site for a 25,000-square-foot store, she said.

Moses said the two are looking for a federal Housing and Urban Development loan guarantee.

If the new project breaks ground in November and the McMenamins portion of the project begins somewhat later, both should be ready to open their doors in 2012, Pleasants said.

[urbanlife]

Hell yes, this is why I love McMenamins.

[jake840]

Streetcar Initiative Approved By City Attorney

The City Clerk will assign an initiative number and signature gathering will be able to begin 5 days after the Clerk’s notice has gone out. So, for all of you looking for a little reading to begin your weekend …

“Should the City increase sales tax two-tenths of one percent for expansion of Tacoma Link, historic streetcar renovation and creation of a Transit Commission?”

WHEREAS, for fifty years, streetcars helped to build many neighborhoods in Tacoma and moved more than a hundred million passengers a year;

WHEREAS, Tacoma Link light rail opened for service seven years ago in 2003 and has since carried millions of passengers;

WHEREAS, several of Tacoma’s Neighborhood Councils have signed a letter in support of expansion of the light rail / streetcar system beyond Downtown and into the city’s neighborhoods;

WHEREAS, other communities like the City of Portland and City of Seattle have begun the process of building streetcar networks to stimulate dense, mixed use economic investment in surrounding areas and to encourage sustainable mobility without the use of automobiles;

WHEREAS, Tacoma residents approved ST2 in 2008, which provides $80 million in matching funds for expanding the light rail/streetcar system in the City of Tacoma;

WHEREAS, the City Council commissioned and adopted the findings of the Streetcar Advisory Committee to build a citywide streetcar network nearly three years ago;

WHEREAS, the communities of 6th Avenue, Upper Tacoma, the Stadium District, Old Town, the Lincoln International District and others are potential candidates for streetcar expansion in the coming decade, if the City takes reasonable and appropriate, but untaken steps,

Be It Ordained by the Voters of the City of Tacoma, that:

A new chapter of the Tacoma Municipal Code is established under the heading “Transit and Streetcars” and that the proceeding sections be included in the chapter.

Section 1. Findings and Intent. The voters of the City of Tacoma find that there is a compelling need to rapidly expand our frequent-service modern streetcar system, Tacoma Link Light Rail, beyond Downtown Tacoma and into our neighborhoods, business districts, and Mixed Use Centers. The voters find that there are also compelling needs for the City to: 1) Invest in sustainable transportation links like bicycle lanes, sidewalks, and trails and 2) Work for comprehensive improvement of Pierce Transit. The voters intend that the City should take the lead on the development of light rail/streetcar extensions
throughout the City of Tacoma and should take reasonable actions given authorized funds to accelerate progress on such extensions.

Section 2. Subject – Build the Streetcar. This Act deals with the implementation of the first phase of a sustainable multimodal transportation system in the City of Tacoma that includes: streetcars, rapid buses, bicycles, and pedestrians. This Act is to be known as the “Build the Streetcar Act.”

Section 3. Authorization of Transportation Benefit District Levy. Pursuant to the authority granted to the City of Tacoma under RCW 36.73.065, the voters of the City of Tacoma support and authorize that an additional regular sales tax levy of two cents per ten dollar purchase to be levied within 90 days of the passage of this Act within the boundaries of the Transportation Benefit District encompassing the project identified in Section 5 of this Act and any other projects identified by the City of Tacoma’s Transportation Benefit District ordinance. This sales tax levy shall continue for a period of ten years.

Section 4. Green Transportation Alternatives Fund. Funds from Section 3 of this Act shall be deposited into into a municipal “Green Transportation Alternatives” (GTA) Fund administered by City staff under the direction of the City Council of the City of Tacoma. GTA funds shall be allocated towards the purposes of fulfilling the projects described by the Transportation Benefit District ordinance, and to those ends, all sections of this Act, including, but not limited to: planning, engineering, and construction, of the project outlined in Section 5 and other actions needed for Section 8 through Section 10.

Section 5. Identified Project. The policy of the City of Tacoma shall be, that the following streetcar extension identified in the Puget Sound Regional Council’s transportation plan, from now on referred to as “Phase 1,” be completed and ready for public service by December 2016, 11 years earlier than originally planned:
Puget Sound Regional Council Project ID: 4075 – Tacoma Link Extension from Theater District to Tacoma Community College using Tacoma Link Technology.

Section 6. Description of the Project.
The Phase 1 streetcar extension will be built principally as a double-tracked, street-level, shared right-of-way mass transportation system with traffic signal priority, which will be electrically powered, with steel wheeled vehicles. Stations will be placed depending on the density and demographics of the particular neighborhood. Sound Transit will operate the streetcar extension at 10 minute intervals at least 14 hours each weekday.

Immediate expansion of the existing system will generally follow the following alignment: from the existing station at S. 9th & Commerce St., heading north past Old City Hall and up Stadium Way to the Stadium District. The line will continue up North 1st Street to Division and continuing West on 6th Avenue with stops along the way to Tacoma Community College.

Section 7. Incremental Progress. Segments of the streetcar extension between the S. 9th and Commerce/Theater District Station and Tacoma Community College may be brought into public service before the entire line is completed.

Section 8. Instructions to the City – Become the Lead Agency on Tacoma Transit Expansion. To expedite completion of the Identified Project in Section 5, the City Manager shall appoint, and the City Council will confirm a “Director of Transit” who shall take actions to accelerate development of Phase 1 such that the project is “shovel-ready” by the end of November 2011. The term “shovel-ready” shall be
defined as meaning that a) A feasible and sufficiently detailed project schedule is produced to enable construction to begin within 6 months, b) Alternatives Analysis as defined by the Federal Transit Administration is complete, c) a Preferred Alternative plan has been formally adopted by the City Council, d) Necessary environmental documentation has been filed with appropriate regulatory bodies, and e) Engineering and Design is at least 30% complete.

Additionally, the Director of Transit and City Manager shall take actions to apply for and/or negotiate for, any and all applicable matching grants or funds from other entities such as the State of Washington, Pierce Transit, Sound Transit and the Federal Transit Administration, in addition to funds raised by Section 3 of this Act, in order to complete construction of Phase 1.

The Director of Transit will produce monthly reports on project progress and shall present these reports to the Transit Commission. The first report will be due on February 28th, 2011.

Section 9. Planning and Oversight for the Future of Transit in Tacoma. There shall be a “Transit Commission” composed of five members. The five members shall be residents of the City of Tacoma and be appointed and confirmed by the City Council for terms of four (4) years each. Each of the individuals will either have been a regular rider of public transportation in Tacoma for more than five years or have indepth knowledge in at least one of the following subject areas: public transportation, transit-oriented development, or sustainability. A majority of the voting members of such Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The Commission shall be authorized to adopt rules for the transaction of business not inconsistent with the City Charter or ordinances of the City of Tacoma. Said Transit Commission members shall serve without pay.

The Commission will be charged with accomplishing the following objectives, taking into account ample public input:

1. Oversee the progress of streetcar implementation;
2. Provide recommendations to staff and the City Council concerning streetcar implementation;
3. Within one year, produce a thirty-year, “Tacoma Transit Plan” with design guidelines, a map of route alignments, and a proposed schedule of investments within that time frame, while coordinating
with relevant agencies;
4. Develop a plan for a second phase of streetcar extensions to other neighborhoods as a part of the Tacoma Transit Plan;
5. Update the Tacoma Transit Plan at least once every two years;
6. Identify deficiencies in the public transit system; and,
7. Provide ongoing policy recommendations concerning public transportation and sustainable transportation systems.

Prior to transmitting the Tacoma Transit Plan or recommendations for changes to the Tacoma Transit Plan to the City Council for adoption, the Transit Commission will submit such recommendations to the Planning Commission for review and comment.

Within 30 days of the passage of this Act, the City Council shall act to appoint the Transit Commission. The Transit Director shall be present at all meetings of the Transit Commission and shall assist the Commission in its work and coordinate efforts with other staff. The Commission shall meet within 45 days of the passage of this Act.

Section 10. Restore One of Tacoma’s Historic Streetcars. In the interests of historic preservation and cost-effective acquisition of streetcars themselves, the City shall take such actions as necessary to find, acquire, rehabilitate, and restore at least one streetcar that historically operated in the City of Tacoma. The City shall solicit private donations and grants to make such a vehicle operable on modern streetcar tracks, and shall consider it as a part of the project to extend Tacoma Link.

Section 11. Interlocal Agreements. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the City’s ability to work with other organizations and agencies through interlocal agreement or other means to implement this Act.

Section 12. Severability. The provisions of this ordinance are declared to be separate and severable. The voters of Tacoma declare that they support each of the provisions of this Act independently, and their support for this Act would not be diminished if one or more of its provisions were to be held invalid, or if any of them were adopted by the City Council and the others sent to the voters for approval.

Section 13. Interpretation. This Act is to be liberally construed to achieve the defined intent of the voters.

[mSeattle]

What's happening in Tacoma?

[jake840]

Jackson Building:
Bank pulls plug on the Jackson Building

Tacoma: Bank sues Jackson Building developers for fraud
This is how it sits today:

Pic from The News Tribune

The Commencement (Ruston):
Work stops on luxury Ruston condos

Elks Project:
McMenamins hotel and rooftop bar for Elks project in Tacoma
Elks complex: It gains height, cost, maybe a Whole Foods; timeline longer
Hotel is going in to the new building instead of the Elks Lodge.

Pic from The News Tribune

Foss Hotel:
Construction to start in October
Foss hotel gets go-ahead, pollution claim protection

Pic via Tacoma Weekly courtesy of Hollander Investements

UWT:
UW Tacoma changes design plan for Pacific Avenue site
The University of Washington Tacoma has changed course on the ground-floor design of its newest Pacific Avenue renovation, giving up on a large classroom and instead planning to lease all the street-facing space to retailers.



Pic from The News Tribune

Downtown Parking:
Downtown Tacoma parking: Tentative D-day for pay stations

The *semi* official date that free street parking in downtown Tacoma will disappear and motorists will be required to feed parking meters (or in this case, "pay stations") is ...
September 7th -- the day after Labor Day.

[jake840]

Deal set for Jackson Building in Tacoma

KATHLEEN COOPER; Staff writer

The owner of the incomplete building on 25th and Yakima has until late summer to pay back most of the debt to Banner Bank, or the bank will get the building without a fight.

Under an agreement announced Thursday, Banner will accept $13.5 million for the debt on the Jackson Building. It has spent $16.5 million so far. Owner Gwen Ingels in turn must buy the debt by July 22, with a possible one-time extension of 28 days.

If those deadlines aren’t met, Banner will foreclose.

“This gives Banner Bank the certainty of a discounted payoff and the debtor time to raise the money it has said it can raise,” bank lawyer Craig Miller said Thursday in federal bankruptcy court in Tacoma.

A bankruptcy judge must still approve the agreement.

Ingels said the settlement helps her discussions with new lenders, since she has a better idea of how much she’ll need to borrow to own the building and to finish construction.

“The good news is we have predictability,” Ingels said outside the courtroom.

Construction stopped on the seven-story apartment-retail complex at the end of February, just before the loan came due. A few weeks later, Banner sued Ingels and her former husband, Casey Ingels, alleging among other things that they submitted fraudulent invoices to draw at least $700,000 on the construction loan.

Casey Ingels, who owns the general contracting firm working on the project, has denied the allegations. The Ingelses have said in court documents that Banner didn’t meet its obligations on the $22 million construction loan.

The building is owned by a state limited liability company controlled by Gwen Ingels. The LLC filed for bankruptcy in late March.

Lawyers for Ingels and the bank were scheduled to argue Thursday morning on whether Judge Paul Snyder should dismiss the bankruptcy so Banner could foreclose. Instead they presented a settlement agreement, which Miller said had been in the works for about a week.

The settlement also sets aside other legal matters, including the fraud accusations.

Snyder reacted favorably to the agreement, but said he wanted to ensure that all interested parties were notified. Brian Budsberg, one of Gwen Ingels’s lawyers, said that his firm would send letters to 35 subcontractors.

Barring any complications, Snyder is expected to approve the settlement June 1.

After the hearing, Casey Ingels and Gwen Ingels declined to go into detail about the case. But they indicated they felt Banner’s agreement to settle was something of a vindication.

“It pretty much speaks for itself,” Casey Ingels said. Neither Gwen Ingels nor he would make any comment on who they might be talking to regarding financing.

“That’s important to the project. I don’t care how I look,” he said.

Gwen Ingels said she hoped to have a deal in place before the July deadline. She has said in court documents that she’s in talks with Momentum Partners LLC, Remington Financial Group, Journey Financial Group, Centennial Bank and Barclays.

Three subcontractors attended the hearing Thursday.

John Mallon owns Cascade Insulation, which opened for business this year. He said his company’s first job was work on the Jackson Building. The Ingelses owe him about $40,000.

Mallon said he’s confident he’ll be paid eventually, and he hopes to go back to work.

The developers “never would have made the offer (to the bank) if they didn’t think they could find financing,” he said.

[jake840]

$24 million building to be added this summer to UWT





The University of Washington Tacoma will start construction this summer on a $24 million building that expands the library and provides more classrooms.

The new building will be four stories and a basement. It will snuggle up to the historic Tioga building, on Jefferson Avenue across from The Swiss pub, and will connect to the university’s existing library by a skywalk.

UWT spokesman Mike Wark said Friday that the school will begin work in August by demolishing the one-story building next to the Tioga. The new building also will take a bite out of the large parking lot that fills the rest of the block.

Construction will last 16 to 18 months, Wark said. The school plans to open the new building for the 2012 summer term.

“It’s going to affect us,” The Swiss co-owner Jack McQuade said. “But that’s part of the ongoing expansion of the campus. Hopefully the construction workers will make up for lost customers.”

The structure is the last piece of the most recent campus construction phase that included the renovation of the Joy Building on Pacific Avenue, infrastructure improvements on Market Street and the renovation of science labs.

The construction phase began in 2008, and its cost was estimated to be about $54 million. As the years have passed and the economy worsened, the Legislature has approved fewer dollars each year.

The UWT asked the Legislature this spring for permission to issue its own bonds to help fund construction of the Jefferson Avenue building. State lawmakers agreed, so the UWT will use student building fees to back $7.4 million in bonds. The rest will come from university system reserves and state money.

And the new building won’t be completely finished on the inside. Wark said the school probably will leave “a floor or two as empty shell space” until it finds more money to finish it.

The University of Washington Board of Regents gave the final go-ahead Thursday.

“These kinds of funds are directed for capital construction only,” Wark said. “They can’t be used for teachers. We’re not taking money away from students to build buildings.”

Construction “also puts people to work, which is one of the reasons the Legislature funds projects during a recession,” he said.

Owners of businesses near the construction site said Friday that the university has been open about its plans. Crystal Davis works at Betta Mansions at 1903 Jefferson Ave. She spoke Friday on behalf of the owner.

Davis said in the three years the owner has leased from the university, it has used one-year leases. She said the university is a good landlord.

“The university took a big risk on us,” she said, because Betta Mansions was a relatively new business with little financial information. She hopes it continues to lease from the UWT.

School officials seemed to have learned communication lessons from the renovation of the Joy Building on Pacific Avenue. When work began there in the fall of 2009, adjacent business owners said the school did a poor job of telling them about construction plans.

After a rough start, the school now holds monthly meetings with its retail tenants. Representatives of the construction crews attend.

Greg Klein, who owns South Sound Running at 1736 Pacific Ave., said university officials realized the problem and responded well. As for construction frustration, he tries to take the long view.

“It’ll be great when it’s finished,” Klein said. “There’s a certain ‘bite the bullet’ to this.”

The Swiss’ McQuade says a “best-case scenario” is that the new plans include a Jefferson Avenue driveway to the parking lot across from his business, like the one that is there now.

Wark said the designers are working on it.

“We haven’t given up on car access on Jefferson,” Wark said, “but it’s not likely during construction.”

Kathleen Cooper: 253-597-8546 kathleen.cooper@thenewstribune.com

[jake840]

Hotel, Motel, McMenamins.....

Tacoma board OKs Brewery District hotel
Preservation: With new design, work could begin this year on 160-room, 8-story Holiday Inn



KATHLEEN COOPER; Staff writer

Almost three years after the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission heard, and shredded, the design of a hotel in the Brewery District, the board now has approved the final plans.

One of the hotel’s owners said construction on the 160-room Holiday Inn Express will begin after the city processes the permits, possibly by the end of the year.

“We intend to go full speed ahead,” Faruq Ramzanalli said Wednesday evening. The long process “has been challenging, but looking back, it’s been a good thing.”

Ramzanalli said he’s confident that financing for the $21 million hotel will be settled by the time Seattle-based Hotel Concepts Inc. is ready to break ground. “We think that by the time (the city permits) are ready, we’ll be ready,” he said.

Hotel Concepts principal Han Kim said in an interview last month that financing was secured and that construction, once begun, would take about 15 months. The hotel will be about 88,000 square feet and offer rooms for about $100 a night, he said.

The design review process was a long haul. The developers first came to the commission in December 2007 with preliminary plans. Based on that initial feedback, the developers presented a new concept in September 2008 for two hotels. The commission remained concerned that the hotels would clash with the architecture in the warehouse area.

The final design is for a single hotel at 21st and C streets that occupies an existing parking lot and the site of an old, featureless building attached to the former Heidleberg Brewery. That building will be demolished. The hotel will be eight stories high: six floors of hotel atop two floors of parking.

Seven stories will be a single-color brick, with only the top floor stucco. The original design had a lot more stucco, and commissioners wanted to avoid the look of Pacific Avenue’s Marriott Courtyard hotel, which looks like it came from a corporate catalog.

The windows also were significantly redesigned to more closely resemble windows in other warehouse buildings. The windows also incorporate heating and air conditioning units instead of having those be separate grills penetrating the walls.

Wednesday’s decision was not without a few more points of inquiry. Commissioner Pamela Sundell said she didn’t like the ground floor canopies, asked for clarification of the height of the cupolas, and asked Ramzanalli whether he or the other owners have talked to the University of Washington Tacoma.

Ramzanalli said they hadn’t.

“The city needs hotel rooms,” he said. “The convention center is screaming for rooms. We’ve been trying to get rooms online since 2007,” since there are only three other hotels in the downtown district.

“So I’m sure they’re for it,” he said.

The commission voted unanimously to approve the design.

FIRST 2 DESIGNS ARE IN POST #221


Elks Temple would shine under McMenamins' plan




KATHLEEN COOPER; Staff writer

McMenamins’ early plans for the Elks Temple’s renovation show a company intent not just on returning the building to its former glory, but surpassing it.

A renovated swimming pool. A “tiki” bar. At least three “pub” spaces and dining spaces on top of that. Two major event stages. A brewery. And, perhaps, rooftop solar panels to help the historic building be, in a modern word, green.

Tacoma’s Landmarks Preservation Commission received an informational presentation Wednesday night from Portland architects Mario Espinosa and George Signori of the firm Ankrom Moisan. Flanking them at the table were one of the owners of the 1916 Temple, Mike McMenamin, and Tacoma historic preservation consultant Michael Sullivan.

“This just proves that if you just have the patience to wait 30 to 40 years, the perfect tenant will come along for your historic building,” Sullivan said in introductory remarks.

The building has suffered decades of neglect since the Elks built a new lodge and campus near Allenmore Hospital. Weather and vandals have left most of the inside almost unrecognizable from its heyday.

“The interior of the building is pretty depressing,” Sullivan said, but it appears to be no worse than Union Station was before its renovation into a federal courthouse.

The McMenamins hotel and brewpub developer seems to be following the “no surprises” rule with the commission, which has approval authority over final plans for the historic building’s renovation. Espinosa and Signori went through drawings for the interior and exterior, repeatedly asking commissioners to interrupt if they had questions.

“Feedback is always good, and when it’s early, it’s even better,” Espinosa told them.

Signori said McMenamins’ approach to renovation is to restore, repair or replace every historic element. Most of the original fixtures are lost, but the architects will draw on historic documents and other material to recreate items.

For example, the firm is considering replacing the concrete-plaster medallions that used to march around the outside of the building. Signori said he believes they were removed for fear of falling off the building onto someone’s head during an earthquake, and they’re gone now. Newer materials could be used to make medallions that are lighter but would have the same look.

Another idea presented was solar panels on the south-facing roof. Signori said that is an ideal spot to catch the light, but designers initially weren’t sure how it would be received. He said city preservation staffers encouraged a discussion about it to show that sustainable features can be done well.

Finally, sketches showed McMenamins-style landscaping around the city-owned Spanish Steps. Espinosa said McMenamins was interested in designing and maintaining the gardens, since the steps are so closely tied to the Temple’s business.

The commission took in the presentation without comment. Afterward, two members commended McMenamins for taking the building on. One asked for more details on the landscaping, saying it shouldn’t obscure the steps. Another asked for details about the project to the north of the Temple, the new building planned by developers Grace Pleasants and Rick Moses.

McMenamin said the project is going well, and he acknowledged its importance to the success of a renovated temple. Holding events for a thousand people puts you in the position of needing some place for them to stay, he said. “Hopefully we’ll have some hotel rooms next door,” he said. “The likelihood of that happening is very strong.”

Espinosa said Thursday that his firm is working in concert with Seattle-based ZGF, hired by Pleasants and Moses. Elements added to the temple, such as a fire escape from the sixth floor ballroom, will require consultation with that firm since the buildings are only 25 feet apart. McMenamins also will be designing the inside of the hotel, since the company will run it.

Pleasants and Moses are in the design phase for their mixed-use building, recently holding a series of focus groups from potential residents for the apartments there. The building, if financed, will sit atop a city-owned parking garage and have retail space and a McMenamins-run rooftop bar.

Groundbreaking is tentatively set for spring of next year, with a grand opening in the fall of 2012.

McMenamin has said that no matter the fate of the building to the north, renovation of the Temple will proceed. He repeated that Wednesday night. “We’ll do the Elks, no matter what,” he said.

Hollander's Foss Site 4 Plans - Delayed Again

The Hollander Investments plan to build a hotel on the The Foss has been delayed once again. If you recall, Hollander planned to build a mixed use hotel project at Site 4. This is the property located between the Esplanade and Thea’s Landing. The sale of the property was delayed by the City Council over an indemnity agreement. Now, from the City Manager’s weekly report to Council:

12. At the request of Council Member Woodards, Community and Economic Development staff provide the following update on the Hollander site. The closing on the sale of the Foss Waterway Site 4 property to Hollander has been delayed due to the filing of a petition by the KS Tacoma Holdings LLC (the Murano) for reconsideration of the decision of the Shorelines Hearings Board in the appeal of Hollander’s amendment to the current shoreline permit. It could take up to another 15 days to get a ruling. If reconsideration is denied KS Tacoma has 30 more days to appeal the denial of reconsideration and dismissal of the appeal.

We’ll be talking about this site for a while …


Jacob: The big deal about the delays (other than costing headache and making people hate the Murano) are since it is a waterfront property there are only certain times you can do construction due to the salmon spawning (or something of that nature). So basically The Murano is trying to delay so they will miss this years deadline to start construction.

[jake840]

McMenamins' transformation of Tacoma Elks building starts with Spanish Steps

KATHLEEN COOPER; Staff writer
Published: 09/25/1012:05 am | Updated: 09/25/10 7:03 am

The transformation of the downtown Elks building into an entertainment complex has started with 32 steps.

Workers on Friday began pouring concrete to replace the top flight of the historic Spanish Steps after preservation officials determined the old ones were cracked beyond repair.



Meanwhile, Portland-based brewpub developer McMenamins’ plans for the temple’s rehabilitation have been approved, and developers Grace Pleasants and Rick Moses have made progress lining up the money for the new mixed-use building next door.

The new steps are the same dimensions as the originals, said Darius Thompson, the city engineer working on the renovation. The contractor is using the best match to the original material available.

The other two flights of stairs are in better shape and will be repaired, Thompson said.

The new stairs will cost about $20,000, he said, which is easily absorbed because the contractor’s bid came in so low. Pease Construction of Lakewood was awarded the approximately $400,000 contract earlier this summer. The project has a budget of just over $1 million, though city officials have said they don’t expect to spend nearly that much.

Rehabilitating the steps was one of the things the city agreed to do as part of the McMenamin brothers’ renovation of the historic Elks Temple. On Wednesday, the Tacoma Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the McMenamins’ plans for that building.

The Temple and the Spanish Steps will be painted the same off-white color. The building will have black and red accents, such as new and repaired ironwork and repainted wooden elements around the windows. Red vertical McMenamins signs will be attached to the building on both Broadway and Commerce streets.

The design also calls for awnings and an entry canopy on the Broadway side, which McMenamins considers the main entrance. Architect George Signori of Portland’s Ankrom Moisan firm told the commission they plan to install 136 new medallions on a frieze toward the top of the building. They’ll be designed to look like the originals, which were removed years ago and then lost.

The design presentation contained one surprise. Signori said they had discovered a vault on the east side of the Elks building, underneath the sidewalk on Broadway. He said it once had skylights that now are filled with concrete. The designers plan to turn the vault into a small bar, and are looking into installing new skylights.

In McMenamins style, the team will keep developing artistic touches for the building that city historic preservation officer Reuben McKnight will have to approve or refer to the commission. Signori used the elk hanging over the Commerce Street entrance as an example of a design feature they might have a little fun with.

“It’s a rather sad looking elk. Without his antlers, he looks like a goat,” Signori said. They might embellish the statue a bit – a drawing showed a new elk with long, elaborate antlers.

As for the new building next door, which is to contain apartments, retail space and the McMenamins hotel and rooftop bar, developer Moses said Friday that he and Pleasants have made good progress on financing.

He said they are working on a complicated package that includes a federally guaranteed loan. If approved, it would be issued through commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis. The funds from the loan come from an institutional investor the firm has lined up, though Moses said he couldn’t reveal the name yet. He also said they had other direct private investors.

They plan to break ground this spring, Moses said.



Tacoma's old Foremost Dairy to be transformed

KATHLEEN COOPER; Staff writer
Published: 08/18/10 4:33 am | Updated: 08/18/1012:48 pm



The makeover of downtown’s old Foremost Dairy has begun, but it’s not clear if tenants are coming.

The owners are “really excited about breaking the news,” commercial broker Laura Fox said recently. “It’s not going to be industrial. Office, maybe some retail, but that depends on who the tenants are.”

The building at 2415 Pacific Ave., across from the Elephant Car Wash, is owned by Henry Liebman. His Seattle-based company, American Life Inc., solicits potential immigrant investors through a federal program to encourage job creation through foreign investment.

Demolition work has been going on for a few weeks. American Life Inc.’s website lists the dairy building as 100 percent leased, but a company representative wouldn’t provide more details.

“We’ve got a real story to tell and it’ll be a really nice project and Tacoma will be proud of it,” American Life spokesman Don Ayers said last week. Ayers said an announcement about tenants will come soon, after a lease is signed.

The Immigrant Investor Pilot Program allows foreigners and their families a year to gain permanent U.S. residency by investing at least $1 million in a commercial venture that directly creates at least 10 jobs.

Or, investors can earn residency with as little as $500,000 and don’t have to start a business that creates the jobs directly in a designated regional centers like Tacoma. There investors may rely on indirect employment to satisfy the jobs requirement.

In some cases, the investment can simply construct or renovate a building – to make usable space for at least 10 direct or indirect jobs.

Liebman did not return an e-mail request for comment Tuesday.

He bought the Foremost building for about $3 million in 2008. It includes most of the block, excluding the mid-block 1912 Hotel Merkle.

The City of Tacoma doesn’t have any current applications for building permits at the 83-year-old former milk and ice cream factory. But in 2008, a building permit application filed with the city indicated using two upper floors and basement as office and retail space. The design calls for a modernization of the exterior with a glass corner entrance that peaks higher than the building’s roof does now.

The building is not listed on any historic registers.

Bob Levin, private capital division manager for City of Tacoma, said he didn’t have information about potential tenants. Levin said the work on the dairy building would be the first in the city under the foreign investment program.

“It’s encouraging to find that there’s someone wiling to make some investment, and capable of making investments,” Levin said Monday.

[jake840]

Full-service grocery store coming to downtown Tacoma's Pacific Plaza

Posted By Kathleen Cooper on January 4, 2011 at 10:15 am Bookmark and Share Share this

A full-service grocery store for Tacoma's downtown core is just a few signatures away.

Dan Putnam said this morning that he and his partners, owners of Pacific Plaza at 1250 Pacific Ave., have a lease agreement with Tyler Myers of The Myers Group, a Whidbey Island-based company. The group owns and operates four other grocery stores in Washington, including the Kress IGA near Pike Place Market in Seattle.

After the lease is signed, Putnam said the 16,000-square-foot store will open on the south side of Pacific Plaza in May or June. When it does, the building that was redeveloped through a private-public partnership with the City of Tacoma will be almost fully leased. A 2,800-square-foot retail space on the north side of the building is all that's left.

The as-yet-unnamed store will be similar in size to the Kress IGA, Putnam said. The Kress IGA has operated in the basement of a historic building since 2008. According to its website, almost half of the store is dedicated to "grab-and-go" prepared food. The store also has organic produce, meat, baked goods and frozen food.

The Myers Group operates three additional IGA stores, in Camano Island, Ocean Shores and Snoqualmie. It also owns hardware stores and gas stations, as well as providing real estate and property management services. According to its website, the group employs 350 people.

Myers wasn't immediately available for comment. But he told the Puget Sound Business Journal in 2008 that his company is able to compete with major grocery chains because it chooses its markets carefully. "All the locations are smaller, tight-knit communities where an independent grocer can come in and meet the needs of an underserved area," the paper reported.

The terms of the lease reflect shared risk by Myers and the Pacific Plaza ownership group, Putnam said. The building's owners will pay to finish the space. The lease is for five years, with five additional five-year options to renew. (Typical commercial leases are 10 years with five-year options.) And Putnam and his partners have devised a rent structure that ties the rental rate to the grocery's sales volume.

"From a financial side the grocer isn't a big plus," Putnam said. "If it does well, we'll get decent rents. If not, we won't cover our costs. But from a civic pride point, it's the best lease we have in our building."

"In my heart of hearts, bringing a grocery store to downtown Tacoma is one of the biggest retail wins in memory," he said. "I know from that store and the activity, if we really get the foot traffic, it will fill some of the dark holes around us as the economy rebounds in the next couple of years."

Putnam said two market studies show the potential for a store in Pacific Plaza. Supervalu, a wholesale food distributor who has a warehouse in Tacoma, did the first. Then Myers did his own, Putnam said.

"The studies came in very similiar," he said, though he didn't have the numbers in front of him. "We hope to do better than the study. I'm hoping downtown residents and workers really support this store."

The census tract that includes Pacific Plaza shows a population of 1,400. By comparison, the census tract around the Seattle Kress IGA shows a population of about 3,400. Census tracts are designed to be relatively similar.

Putnam said the studies were conservative.

"I think the studies have underestimated the worker-customer," he said. "The second study indicated only 20 percent of volume would come from workers." He thinks they can do better than that.

Read more in Wednesday's News Tribune.


Photo courtesy BLRB Architects/Steve Wanke

[jake840]

Downtown Tacoma condo building reborn as apartments

JOHN GILLIE; Staff writer
Published: 01/05/11 3:34 am | Updated: 01/05/11 3:35 a



A downtown Tacoma condominium construction project, lifeless for two years, is breathing again.

Construction resumed this week on the Midtown Lofts at 1142 S. Fawcett Ave. after the building owners signed a new private financing agreement late last week.

“We’re very happy to see construction going again,” said Tom O’Connor, head of the limited liability corporation building the eight-story, 50-unit project.

The finished building will not be condominiums for sale, but rental apartments.

“The market for condos is still dead,” O’Connor said.

The financial crisis that felled home and condo sales nationwide and in Tacoma was part of the reason that the project’s development was halted in December 2008 when the building was 70 percent complete.

That and the financial implosion of the bank providing the construction financing, Everett’s Frontier Bank, and its ultimate takeover by Union Bank, made finishing the building impossible until the dust settled from the construction and financing shutdown.

The unfinished structure came within a few days of foreclosure in 2009, but the corporation that owned it filed for bankruptcy to halt the sale. Ultimately, that bankruptcy was dismissed when the bank offered its note for sale.

But even then, the path toward construction was difficult.

O’Connor said the lack of bank financing for such stillborn projects such as Midtown Lofts made finding new money difficult. If money was available at all, he said, it was at interest rates 10 percent to 18 percent that made the costs of completing the building too expensive.

Ultimately, he said, he found private financing to buy out the bank’s loan and to finish the incomplete work.

About 20 workers are now at the site with 75 expected when the project gets up to full speed. The project should be ready for occupancy sometime by late July or early August.

The apartment market in downtown is relatively healthy, O’Connor said, because many formerly potential buyers are now renting instead of purchasing homes.

The new units, which range from 750 to 2,200 square feet, will rent for between $850 and $2,200 per month, he said. A model unit will open in March with reservations available then for prospective renters.

The building will be more lavishly built and equipped than units that are designed from the beginning as apartments, he said.

“We built the units much more stoutly because we didn’t want to be concerned about the construction defects issues that have plagued condominium projects in the past,” he said.

The building, for example, has a steel and concrete framework. Most apartments would have a wooden framework.

The units, likewise, will have such features as granite countertops and wood and tile floors in some rooms where typical apartment construction would call for carpet and vinyl flooring.

Some of the larger units will have fireplaces and vaulted ceilings. And a few will have three bedrooms, a rarity among downtown condominiums and apartments, O’Connor said.

Ultimately, he said, he hopes to sell the units as condominiums. Considering the present state of the economy, he said, that could take awhile.


Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/0...#ixzz1AAbm1A8K