Tacoma Untapped » Real Estate

Former Happy Dragon Location on 6th Ave. Sold

Jake — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:58:40 +0000

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.

Haub Closes on USPS Parcels

Jake — Mon, 04 May 2009 07:25:08 +0000

The Haub Brother’s holdings in Tacoma’s Central Business District just got a bit larger. On April 28th the Haub Brother Enterprise Trust closed on two parcels owned by the United States Postal Service. The two parcels located on A Street between 13th and 14th measure 32,600 square feet and are county assessed at $2,674,900. The purchase price was not yet available.

Haub now owns the properties highlighted in red:

The two parcels are key in Haub’s plan for a large highrise development on the site and possibly a new headquarters for Russell Investsments. The City of Tacoma and Haub recently started environmental cleanup and monitoring of the Haub properties and the former Sauro drycleaner site across the street.

Russell HQ proposal:

Design Architect Moving to Tacoma’s Brewery District

Jake — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:24:10 +0000

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?

Jake — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:52:35 +0000

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

Jake — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:04:04 +0000

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:

Hostess Bakery For Sale

Bakery Reuse. What Would You Do?

NFL Player and Real Estate Agent Buy UWT Land

Jake — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:12:31 +0000

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.