Tacoma in the News: Downtown condo market
We hope you didn't miss the following news item on Tacoma's development and prosperity:
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City Council defines downtown footprint
The Tacoma City Council recently defined the footprint of downtown Tacoma and designated the following principles for planning future growth: Protect neighborhoods, critical areas, the Port of Tacoma, industrial, and manufacturing uses, and increase densities in the downtown and neighborhood business districts.
The new working definition of downtown Tacoma is now bounded to the north by the Stadium District, to the south by Interstate 5, to the east by the Thea Foss Waterway, and to the west by the Hilltop area.
Council also approved the development of a downtown parking and municipal transit strategy which will take place over the next year. This plan will include a tremendous amount of stakeholder input from the public. Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson is currently creating a process to solicit this feedback which will drive the parking and transit strategies.
All of these efforts combined will further Tacoma’s development as the urban center for the South Puget Sound.
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State awards four Tacoma development projects $12 million in Commercial Revitalization Deductions
The Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development accepted recommendations from the City of Tacoma and the Tacoma Community Redevelopment Authority for $12 million in Commercial Revitalization Deductions this year. The CRDs were awarded to four commercial building projects in Tacoma.
Each year projects compete for $12 million in CRD allocations. This year, five projects applied for funding. The state of Washington awarded the allocations to:
• 1201 J St LLC for the “First Swedish Baptist Church” Building: $340,000
• Atrium Court LLC on behalf of future commercial owners: $3,060,500
(This is in addition to the $904,500 allocation in 2005, for a total of $3,964,500)
• Dotcom Associates 1 LLC for the “Kress Payless” Building: $8,250,000
• Sun-In Holdings LLC trans-load facility: $350,000
Tacoma is the only place in Puget Sound — and one of only 28 urban communities around the country — to maintain a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Renewal Community designation, which makes these allocations possible. For more information on the CRD, and to apply for the 2007 round, go to the City of Tacoma news release.
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Study supports Tacoma’s grassroots, municipal dedication to historic preservation
The Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation Department recently released a study on the economic benefits of historic preservation. During a presentation on Jan. 2 in the lobby of downtown Tacoma’s historic Passages Building, state and local historic preservation professionals provided an overview of the study.
The conclusions come as no surprise for many people in Tacoma: Historic preservation creates income, jobs, tax revenue and a sense of community, place and pride.
Reuben McKnight, historic preservation officer for the City of Tacoma, reported that historic preservation is a major sector of economic activity in our community. He pointed to the benefit of money staying locally through trades, local materials, designers and consultants and that property owners typically see immediate effects on property values. Two glowing examples are the residential rehabilitation of the North Slope Historic District and the historic rehabilitation of downtown Tacoma, including Union Station and University of Washington Tacoma. McKnight also said that preservation efforts catalyze new development, attract new businesses and create opportunities for heritage tourism and marketing.
The study takes a look at these very same benefits statewide. For more information on the study, go to the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation Department’s Web site.
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Government Leadership Institute announces 2007 program schedule
The Government Leadership Institute, a cooperative effort between the City of Tacoma’s Neighborhood Council Office and the University of Washington Tacoma’s Urban Studies Program, would like to invite you to eight free public sessions from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. at UWT’s Keystone Building - Carwein Auditorium, 1900 Commerce St.
The Government Leadership Institute seeks to educate and inform citizens on the basics of City of Tacoma government operations, services and public involvement opportunities.
This year’s sessions include the following:
• Urban politics, policy, and government, Jan. 10
• Looking forward: the future of Tacoma, Jan. 22
• Emphasizing the “local” in local development, Jan. 29
• Land Use in Tacoma, Feb. 5
• No place like home: Housing affordability in Tacoma, Feb. 12
• Finance in Tacoma, Feb. 21
• Safety on the streets of Tacoma, Feb. 26
• Fit for living: keeping Tacoma in good shape, March 5
Each of these sessions are available on a drop-in basis. For more information, contact Elton Gatewood, coordinator, Neighborhood Council Office, at egatewoo@cityoftacoma.org or (253) 591-5229.
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Track the Narrows Bridge project
The connection between the Kitsap and Pierce counties that the twin Narrows towers will soon create is an important one in terms of economic development. And we think the construction of any landmark bridge is interesting to follow. The Washington State Department of Transportation is publishing BRIDGESPANS, a quarterly update on the $849 million project – construction of a parallel bridge, 3.4 miles of road improvements, and upgrades to the 1950 bridge. While the parallel bridge will open in summer 2007, renovations to the 1950s bridge will continue in 2008. By early 2008 all project work will be completed: the new bridge will carry eastbound traffic; the '50s bridge will take drivers west to the peninsula. The latest edition of BRIDGESPANS includes a progress report on deck assembly and information on Good To Go!, the easy-to-use electronic toll collection system. To subscribe to this newsletter, e-mail rofeedback@wsdot.wa.gov with the subject line: Subscribe BRIDGESPANS.
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Dock Street widening project moves forward
The City of Tacoma’s Dock Street project, which will extend and widen Dock Street from South 11th to South 15th streets, is slated to begin in late January or early February. The project is scheduled to be substantially completed by late September. The City will be reaching out to business and property owners, employees and residents within and surrounding the footprint of the project to provide general information, construction updates and information on traffic restrictions. For more information, go to the Dock Street Construction Connection Web site.
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Nominate volunteers who make Tacoma outstanding
Tacoma would be nothing without the work and devotion of its many volunteers, several of which are avid readers of Forward Tacoma, or friends of our readers. The Community and Economic Development Department encourages you to nominate the volunteers that make our community vibrant for the City of Tacoma’s 21st annual City of Destiny Awards. These yearly honors promote the importance of community service and recognize individuals and groups who make outstanding contributions to Tacoma. Nominations will be accepted through Jan. 22. For more information, go to www.cityoftacoma.org/cityofdestinyawards.
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New yard waste collection schedule, online calendar for Tacoma residents
City of Tacoma residential garbage customers need to set out their recycling and yard waste containers on alternating weeks, effective the week of Jan. 8. The recycling schedule will remain the same as it is now. Yard waste collection will move to the alternate week’s collection day. Garbage will continue to be collected every week on residents’ current collection day. To keep track of whether it’s a recycling week or yard waste week, residents can type their addresses into the City’s new online collection calendar at www.cityoftacoma.org/collectioncalendar. For more information, call Solid Waste Management at (253) 591-5543.
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City Services Spotlight: Tacoma CARES
Tacoma CARES (Cleanup And Revitalization EffortS) has been working with the citizens of Tacoma since 1995 to strengthen and preserve the livability of our city. Tacoma CARES helps with cleanup and beautification projects, provides code enforcement, low-income assistance and offers programs on Blighted Structures, Rebuilding Together, Adopt-A-Spot, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) and Crime Free Housing. For more information go to the Tacoma CARES Web site.
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