Former Bakery Building To Be Demolished
The new owners of the Hostess Bakery building at South 7th Street and Sprague Ave. have some plans for the site and it does not include the current, now vacant building. WB Management bought the 59 year old building in December of 2007 for $850,000. They have submitted and application to rezone the property from its currently R4 multifamily zoning to C2 commercial zoning. The plans call for demolition of the bakery building and 2 story mixed-use building with retail and office space to be built in its place. The building will be surrounded by surface parking for 47 vehicles.
A public hearing for the rezone will be held May 29, 2009 at 9:30 am in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.
The full rezone packet can be viewed HERE
You can submit public comment via email to Dustin Lawrence: Dlawrence@cityoftacoma.org
Previously on Ext133.com:
Bakery Reuse. What Would You Do?
Ooh, now it can look like Kent Station or any other newer suburban strip mall. What a waste of a great building.
Thus speaketh TO’T, who did grow up going to the Bakery:
Fine, tear the neat old building down. But in it’s place we better see 3+ stories on a mixed-use building with retail and residences. We don’t want a repeat of the “improvements” made on the corner of 38th and Pac Ave.
No shady-ass liquor stores!
Ewwww, seriously? I’d rather have a vacant cool-looking building than an occupied uninspired strip mall.
Why can’t these developers actually put some effort into creating an environment that people actually *want* to be in?
How about constructing something for people to enjoy instead of cars?
What a terrible terrible shame. There are plenty empty lots and crappy buildings one can tear down to make way for what they have in mind. To take down that building is just a total waste. I was hoping at least with the credit trouble people would become a little smarter in how the waste their money. No such luck. What a shame!
I don’t think anyone can criticize new development unless they have a better use for adaptive re-use. The current building is structurally and seismically unsound. What developer can lease and make “pencil” the current structure? Answer: None! The only way someone could save the current structure would be for the owner occupant to purchase the building and spend too much money on it… (i.e. fall in love with the project and spend more than reasonable amounts of money to make it work).
Any other ideas?
We do not need another quasi-California strip mall!
We do need more space for small business investment in the neighborhood, at a reasonable price. I agree with TO’T that top floor apts/condos are a good plan too!
Is there no way to save some of the charming building to stay with the feel of T-Town?
The floor to area ratio is in the toilet with this plan. It isn’t dense enough. It’s auto-dependent. It creates yet another driveway on Sprague. It’s essentially another strip mall without any real future.
Rezone to C-2? Fat chance. Everyone has got to show up to the hearing for this on May 29th.
Good God! More strip malls and more infrastructure dedicated to the automobile. Can Sprague really handle more traffic? Design this for people not for cars. The future demands that all urban development be mixed use – retail, office, residential to maximize the use of the public infrastructure provided to the site – not just another flat plain for parking more cars. Let’s be a little more creative, folks, and forward thinking!
As someone who live right on S. Sprague and has been there for nearly 3 years, I have come to appreciate the charm of the vintage structure. As a home owner and a human being I am finding myself as well as my family in need of modern conveniences. To say that Our “Upper Tacoma” neighborhood could use a full service and competitive grocery store would be an understatement. I know that change is a difficult thing but something needs to be a catalyst for this area. A few of the “slum” property owners need to have a wake up call and get out of the business or clean up their act. I care about Tacoma and it’s neighborhoods. I am not from here originally but I am not ashamed to tell people where I live. It will only get better if we all work on making it happen
I don’t care who slaps a new face on this street as long as it looks good and isn’t just another convenience store… don’t we have enough crappy little convenience stores and chain pizza joints?
Old buildings like what is there, were not designed to last unfortunately.
I don’t like the idea of bringing a strip mall to fill up with more hair extension supply stores and teriyaki… I’m in agreement that a competitive high quality grocery store would be extremely valuable to the community; although whatever grocery store moved in would have to budget a yearly cost for removing graffiti.
But first, can we repair some surface streets… I mean what does it cost to get some pot holes filled?
I was thinking the same thing – It looks like 38th and Pacific. And any number of other shops in anytown USA, as if plans were purchased from from istockstripmall.com.
Does anyone know what the comprehensive plan deisgnation is for this property? My guess would be that its designated for a C zoning classification in the future given the current conditions in that area. It would be interesting to read the staff report that Mr. Lawrence submits for the hearing.
The property fronts on a very busy arterial so a commercial development is what makes the most sense for the area [and in turn what makes the most sense for a rezone/comp plan designation]. That area isn’t pedestrian friendly to allow for a successful mixed use development [residential above, commercial below]. Some areas are simply appropriate for commercial/office uses and this seems like the case given current development around the subject property.
In analyzing the site I believe that some praise can be given for the location of the parking lot and the building’s orientation to the street. Relative to the typical suburban strip mall style development – massive parking facilities out front and the building setback in a subordinate position – the current configuration is a step forward. The site layout seems to provide sufficient screening between the development and the current residential next door and the proposed plaza is also a welcome pedestrian amenity. The facade modulation and roofline variation could be a little more diverse but there are a mix of different facade materials and colors that help to set the building apart.
As for the cries for increased density and a reduction in parking, we need to take some perspective on the ability of the surrounding area to support retail/office spaces without parking provisions [i.e. on-street parking (which is limited), pedestrian friendly environment, transit serving the site] and the effects of a towering three-story development right next door to single-family residential before we start down that path…
You know, I just glanced through these, but has anyone ever stopped to think about what goes on in that area over there? Yeah it’s a great old building and it has a lot of memories for a lot of people in Tacoma, and yes, another crappy cookie cutter strip mall is uninspired, but that area needs some positive improvement. There’s a house just a few blocks down where a car ran through the front porch, and it sat there for months. The yards are littered with garbage, not to mention the drug activity that has been witnessed over the years right next door. Sometimes things have to be sacrificed, and an old vacant building does not help the community improve.