Davita Looking For A New Home... in 2011?
Davita, provider of dialysis services and a major downtown Tacoma employer, is apparently on the hunt for a new northwest home base.
According to the Request For Information that went out on Monday, Davita is looking to build a new office somewhere between Olympia and Everett. They’ll need 200k square feet with expansion capabilities to 300k in five years, 700 to 1000 parking spots, and a price per square foot… that’s too low in our opinion to even talk about. Move in is expected in 2011.
The company is currently located in the historic Sandberg building at 15th and Pacific – a building that many of us remember for its iconic brown clad Schoenfelds glory prior to its restoration and the arrival of Davita in 1999.
Responses to the RFI were due by today.
Filed under: General
24 comments
D drizell May 4, 2008
It wouldn’t surprise me if Davita saw how much the Tacoma has bent over backwards to accomodate Russell and thought, “why not us?” After all, Davita is one of the top three non-government employers downtown, with over 700 employees. I’m curious to see how many millions Project Destiny will throw at Davita to keep them in Tacoma.
N NSHDscott May 4, 2008
Welcome to the slippery slope …
C crenshaw sepulveda May 4, 2008
I’ve seriously been thinking of moving Sepulveda Enterprises out of Tacoma as well. Maybe as soon as the end of this year. I know this will be a serious blow to the Tacoma economy but we need far more space and parking than we are able to find in all the vacant downtown lots.
R rich May 5, 2008
Actually, I did hear about Davita running out of space several months ago and wouldn’t necessary jump on a “slippery Slope” band wagon. This stuff is long overdue….Tacoma has sat on our fat *sses long enough, time to get to work and make this city an attractive place for not just the current employers but for new corporations……and if it takes a couple of the big employers in downtown to get Tacoma’s government off their fat *sses then so be it……it’s about time…..
R rich May 5, 2008
ok, one more comment….and what’s the big deal here…this is what you want with businesses that set up shop in town…you want them to grow and need more space……hello people…growth is good, but you have to be able to accomondate the growth…which tacoma has been sleeping on……this is your wakeup call Tacoma……now get to work….
T Thorax O'Tool May 5, 2008
It’s simple, really. City council says to Davita:
“Yes, we did give Russell a nice offer. And here, we have one for you too.” Hell, it can be almost identical to the Russell one (obviously sans the international financial district thing) with an adjustment or two specifically towards Davita.
Personally, I’m a fan of highrises (I LOVE architecture)… let Russell go 600’ and Davita 500’ right next to each other.
While we’re at it, we really ought to treat Brown & Haley better. Whatever happened to that movement to re-name E 26th “Brown & Haley Drive”? I still think it’s an awesome idea.
Wake up Tacoma, this is opportunity knocking; a chance to move forward like we so need to do.
J Jake May 5, 2008
Maybe Davita is tired of being located next to the Sauro’s toxic waste site.
T tressie May 5, 2008
I’m still amazed there is no coffee shop in the bottom floor…..named InAGadda…….
(I love that joke!)
A altered chords May 5, 2008
Den den dentle len den den den den.
Tressie – now is the time to make it happen. They’ll stay for sure.
M Mofo from the Hood May 5, 2008
Look, if DaVita wants out of this building, then here’s a chance to replace it with a business that WE KNOW will work there.
People it’s time to start mining the gold that’s always been right in our backyard. I’m referring to all those businesses on I-5 and specifically the furniture stores.
We know the DaVita building has ample floorspace and we know the building has magnificent public exposure especially up Pac Ave southwise. Imagine big big letters that everyone can read miles away, “You’ll Love It at Levitz!”
E Elliot May 5, 2008
There’s a metaphor here that I’ll abstain from making, but Tacoma needs to be able to attract employers on it’s own merits rather than having to pay companies to stick around. In case no one noticed, Tacoma and Pierce county don’t have a ton of money to be throwing around just to maintain the status quo every time a company decides to stick a gun to the taxpayers’ heads. NSHDscott is right, this is a slippery slope that we shouldn’t have started down.
N Nick May 5, 2008
Though I would argue we were on this slippery slope long before the “give Tacoma the shakedown” bandwagon was built. The very minute the City took a ‘reactive’ approach to managing the downtown business environment was the moment we stepped onto that slippery slope.
Imagine if this package for Russell had been invested in improving the business climate in downtown even just 6 months before Russell started considering its options. No “shakedown” precedent would have been set, and the money would have arguably been better spent. Tacoma would have been seen as having on-the-ball leadership that could respond to problems efficiently and reliably. Instead we have created the image that the City is a sleeping giant that only budges if poked and prodded enough. A mere matter of months are all that separates these two dramatically different perceptions.
E Elliot May 5, 2008
Nick:
Amen.
S Steven May 5, 2008
So if Russell gets a shinny new building, how much space do they leave open? Could Divita move there?
R Rick May 5, 2008
@12 Elliot: …but Tacoma needs to be able to attract employers on it’s own merits rather than having to pay companies to stick around
I agree to a certain point, though that very point begs the question, “What exactly are Tacoma’s ‘merits’ for a company like Russell?” From my perspective, Russell (like it or not) is a bit of a rock star in our humble town. We can let ‘em get away, and some might say good riddance. However, there goes the anchor for what is being pitched as an INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL DISTRICT. Who knows if an IFD is really a viable plan/proposal—and to Nick’s point, and I agree—a proactive proposal would have been nice, rather than reactive. But, here we are… shoulda, coulda, woulda…
And so, if Russell vacates, then ‘Mofo’s’ Levitz and the Waterbed Warehouse may find some fairly inexpensive $/sq ft downtown.
P penelope May 5, 2008
Levitz is out of business MOFO. I’m sure Stan Selden would consider it if Fife was also charging B&O tax, but since they’re not, it would probably be way too expensive. It Is certainly time for Tacoma to wake up and get creative. We do need hi-rises, and density.Parking requirements, B&O taxes, streetcars, pay stations, it’s all part of the same conversation people. Something has to force the “planners” heads out of their a***s, and get them with the program Growth is GOOD!
J John Sherman May 6, 2008
From memory, Seldens was in Tacoma downtown before, but Selden’s moved out of downtown Tacoma before Weyerhaeuser moved out of downtown Tacoma long ago, and I think the former Selden’s building showroom is now the parking garage located at 11th & “A” Street that was constructed to replace the Weyerhauser parking garage that Weyerhaeuser lost when Russell Investment built their new building to the North of the Weyerhaeuser 1955 building located along “A” Street and Cliff Avenue atop the former (and less than two year old garage that Weyerhaueser paid for its design and construction for employee parking) two-story Weyerhaeuser parking garage in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s.
E Elliot May 6, 2008
@Rick:
“…that very point begs the question, “What exactly are Tacoma’s ‘merits’ for a company like Russell?””
Quite frankly, I don’t know, but that’s something we need to figure out, otherwise this whole redevelopment thing is a dead end. The current plan of paying off companies to stay isn’t sustainable, so maybe we should have this discussion as a community: Why do business in Tacoma instead of Seattle? If the only thing we have to offer is bribes, then we’re doomed.
One observation that I’d make, and Mofo points out, is that there’s plenty of business being done in this town: it’s just that it’s all out at the mall, and it’s mainly big businesses that offer Tacoma little more than minimum wage retail jobs. How to fix that problem is a question people are dealing with around the country.
J jdub May 6, 2008
the bailout of the Russell crisis was a wake-up call to the leaders in charge. But for a maximum change in strategy we’re going to need federal funds for light rail, street cars, etc. That’s not going to happen until Cowboy Bobo leaves the country as completely euthenized as he’s set to do and be gone.
The city manager seemingly is working with the senators and setting ground work, will we have to tie into Seattle to make this comprehensive goal, as a Tacoman I hope not. I hope Anderson has made a reasonable pitch and I’m sure he has, I like him. But, nothing on a large scale is going to happen until Cowboy Bobo rides out that filly and leaves Washington.
I firmly believe with the change of horses and a better spirit for building back up this country that we’ll see a re-spurt of tacomaness, that something that I felt a few years back when there was an undercurrent of spring here, now it just feels like a damp late august afternoon and its been raining since may.
Until then, friends, it will always feel like tax day.
R rich May 6, 2008
give me a break, it has nothing to do with the federal level….it has everything to do with the city level…we can’t blame anyone else for the situation we’re in but ourselves…meaning Tacoma….so get over it already and TACOMA TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!
R rich May 6, 2008
Let me guess, next someone will try to blame Tacoma’s issues on “Global Warming”……
R Rick Jones May 6, 2008
“Cowboy Bobo?” Is this a gorilla in chaps?
T tressie May 6, 2008
without even trying, I had convos with 7 different people yesterday, who want to start a small business in tac,wa. I was 2 of them. I need cheap space to grow bigger. So do they…at least for the 1st year. My waterman talks to everyone around here. Many are complaining about the sudden rise in rents. Just who do these landlords think are gonna move in? We see business moving out…what about those that want to move in?
It’s hard out here for a shrimp.
E Erik B. May 7, 2008
We see business moving out…what about those that want to move in?It’s hard out here for a shrimp.
Yeah, one has to bargain hard for good lease rates. Make an offer every couple of weeks that the place is empty.