H&M Coming to the Tacoma Mall
The Tacoma Mall announced today via their Twitter account that H&M will be opening in the mall in time for the holiday season. The Tacoma H&M will be 20,000 square feet and located next to the new Sephora store that is under construction. It will be the first store in the South Sound and second largest store in the Puget Sound region. H&M currently has stores in Southcenter, Downtown Seattle & U-Village. Sweden based H&M has around 2,000 stores in 35 countries and is known for affordable fashion for men, women & children. It was not reported how many jobs the new Tacoma H&M store would create.
Out of Stadium & Into 6th Ave. for El Guadalajara?
It appears that the Stadium District El Guadalajara may be moving to the center of the 6th Ave. Business District. Tres Ramos El Guadalajara Inc. has applied for a restaurant liquor license with a new location at 3002 6th Ave. and appears to be taking place of the Neighborhood Market (previously on Tacoma Untapped. A business license check for the current location, on Tacoma Ave. in the Stadium Business District, says it has closed. The building where the Stadium District location was located is owned by X Square Investments II, which is ran by John & Luke Xitco, owners of Asado and Masa. Rumors from a few years ago were that X Group wanted to put an Italian restaurant in the Stadium District building once Guadalajara was gone.
El Guadalajara was recently in the news because they were required to install a sprinkler system in the building due to new nightclub laws but hadn’t done so yet. The Stadium District location has a dance floor in the bar portion of the building.
UPDATE: It appears El Guadalajara may be going into the back section of the building where Neighborhood Market is located.
Former Happy Dragon Location on 6th Ave. Sold
The former Happy Dragon restaurant location on 6th Ave. & Alder Street recently sold for $1,100,000. The two parcels measuring 19,981 square feet are part of the 6th Ave. mixed-use center and are zoned NCX. The new owners are a group that includes architect Ross Deckman of Ross Deckman & Associates and a number of individuals who work at AHBL, a Tacoma based civil/structural engineer, landscape arcitecture, and community planning firm. While no plans are concrete they do plan to look at their options for future development of the site. In the meantime they may try to lease the space to another restaurant as all of the restaurant equipment is still in the building.
(image from Google Maps)
From the looks of the purchase price it appears the property was bought for it’s “land value”. I think the prospect of a future development are pretty good considering the land value purchase and the owner’s portfolios. What would you like to see built at this location? Mixed-use with apartments/condos? Office space with retail similar to Poole’s Corner down the street at Union Ave.? My vote? Mixed-use with apartments and retail. The 6th Ave. area hasn’t seen much in the way of new residential structures in the past few years. With UPS a few blocks away and the popular 6th Ave. corridor right there, I think it would be a great spot for that kind of development.
Another Bail Bonds Joint in the Theater District
Word on the street is another bail bonds storefront is coming to the Theater District. I am told Scott Free Bail Bonds is moving into the former Tacoma Events Commission location at 759 Market Street. If you recall this location is in between City Hall and Aladdin Bail Bonds. I am sure my many friends who live in the neighborhood will be thrilled!
The building is owned by City of Destiny LLC who’s registered members include Pat Nagel and Carole Holder of The Hub, Harmon Brewery, and Sound & Shore Properties fame.
Previous blog post from when Aladdin moved into the neighborhood:
Victory Music Becomes…
Aladdin Bail Bonds Move in Downtown
New Restaurant in the St. Helens?
It looks like the St. Helens neighborhood in Downtown Tacoma may be seeing a new restaurant soon. A company called Jericho Development, LLC has applied for a beer/wine restaurant liquor license. The restaurants name is Minoela and will be located in the former One Heart Cafe location at the Merlino Arts Center. Not much more info on the place other than that.
I am also working on a few other neighborhood restaurant rumors, so stay tuned!
Design Architect Moving to Tacoma’s Brewery District
On Sunday Dan Voelpel wrote and article in the TNT about the City of Tacoma’s plans to transform the Brewery District in Downtown Tacoma into a neighborhood of the arts. Last year Angelou Economics did a study on Downtown Tacoma and gave recommendations on what the city should be trying to attract to Downtown. Creative arts and deign was one of the targeted fields.
From Sunday’s TNT article:
“Angelou Economics defines the creative arts and design sector as software design, film production, theater production, music recording, interior and graphic design, advertising, marketing, commercial photography, architecture and urban design. It also includes niche manufacturing of handmade jewelry, glass, ceramic, wooden and metal arts.”
Right before I read the article I found out that a municipal design architecture/engineer company will be moving to the Brewery District from their current downtown location on Broadway Plaza. KPG purchased the warehouse building on the corner of South 25th Street and Jefferson Ave. for $2,000,000 earlier this year. They plan to move into the building later this year. The building is also the location of the Robert Daniel Gallery. KPG is said to be only taking up half of the building. KPG’s new space will be across the street from Commencement Bay Coffee Co., next to the Galleria Condos, and only a block away from the new location of Rainier Connect.
KPG also has an office in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle.
Metro City Homes Heading to the Auction?
The Dwelling Company’s Metro City Homes townhome project in the McCarver Neighborhood appears to be heading to the foreclosure auction. A Notice of Trustee’s Sale was filed recently for the 13 unsold townhomes and 17 vacant lots. 2300 Yakima Avenue Inc., the corporation the development is under, has sold 10 units at the project. All marketing on the property has been pulled and the homes are no longer listed with a real estate broker.
The public auction is scheduled for 10:00 am, June 26th outside the Pierce County Courthouse. The property will be sold the highest and best bidder. The developer has until June 15th to clear the default to avoid the auction sale.
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?
NFL Player and Real Estate Agent Buy UWT Land
Former St. Louis Rams player Raonall Smith and real estate agent Sterling Griffin have purchased property at the northwest corner South 21st and Fawcett Ave. on the UWT campus. The land was purchased for $854,000 under the name Student Housing, LLC. The approx. 15,000 square feet of land is zoned Downtown Mixed Use and allows residential and commercial use. In 2007 the State Senate passed a bill banning the 10/12 year property tax abatement for multifamily housing from being used by private property owners in the 46 acre campus. I don’t think the UWT will be to happy about this purchase.
Southern Kitchen Not Coming to Fern Hill?
Maybe the South End won’t be getting their catfish and potato cakes. The former Fern Hill Coffee House location was set to become Southern Kitchen’s second Tacoma location with a planned opening this Spring. Now the space is back up for lease on Craigslist. I have been telling some friends and family about Southern Kitchen opening in Fern Hill and they were pretty excited. Did the owner find another location?
TNT Diner Post: Southern Kitchen, welcome to Fern Hill
