Foss Waterway Update
Last week the City Council’s Economic Development Committee heard an update from the Foss Waterway Development Authority. It covered a broad range of topics. We thought you’d find the latest developments and time-lines to be quite interesting.
A brief rundown:
- Prium’s long awaited condo/office/retail project on Site 1 has finalized plans. It will be a single building with approximately 9,000 s.f. of retail, over 78,000 s.f. of Class A office space and some residential units. Construction is supposed to start February 2009.
- The long awaited hotel between the Esplanade and Thea Foss is a beautiful design. It would be a boutique hotel with 169 rooms, 6 residential units, a restaurant and some retail. The landscaping and waterfront walkway blend seamlessly. The brains behind this project are the same folks who did the Inn at the Market in Seattle. However, the long delayed project’s Fall 2008 start date was declared hesitantly. Apparently there are questions of equity in the project and breaking ground is…. well… yeah. The Development Authority has an option to buy back the property for the amount it was sold in order to find a new interested party, however that decision must be made in August.
- The Esplanade is mostly finished. There should be occupants by the end of the summer. They are currently courting a “destination” restaurant for their space, but have had a hard time selling it because the restaurateurs want a good size dedicated parking lot. (Seriously? Parking? Again?)
- The Muni Dock, Site 10 and 11 height amendments that passed City Council are awaiting a ruling by the Department of Ecology. Their yea/nay should come in September and will decide what that site looks like in future development. The US Army Corps of Engineers shoreline permit is set to expire in February 2009, which means folks are going to have to move fast to make that project happen.
- The 21st Street Park bordering Site 1 has permits that are set to expire this November, and folks want to get moving. The funding has been a little slack though, so the proposed non-motorized boat dock may not happen as a result.
- The eastside of the Foss may be the non-motorized boaters paradise. The gravel lot between the new Dock Street overpass and Johnny’s Restaurant is proposed to be a park with a boathouse and dock dedicated to human powered craft. This is still a proposal.
Whew. They covered a lot of ground … There are a lot of moving parts. We hope it isn’t too long before a few of these projects can be checked off the list.
Filed under: Developments, waterfront
6 comments
D drizell July 31, 2008
Fall 2008…..February 2009…..I keep marking my calendars, but these supposed start dates never seem to happen. For once, it would be nice to have something start on schedule. Even our own Gintz Group couldn’t get going on the Luzon Building by their promised date.
In other Foss news, I remember there was some kind of report that Tall Ships had led to some units at the Esplanade going into contract. The Esplanade recently took down the feature that let you see which units were sold. They were losing sales for awhile there.
T Thorax O'Tool July 31, 2008
I like to think of Tacoma as wiser than our neighbors to the north.
Sure, Seattle and Bellevue are building like crazy, but how many new projects are in the pipelines?
Not as many as you’d think. When the current stuff is done, there will be a major drop-off. Down here in T-town, we’re just getting rolling as everyone else begins a slowdown… tortoise and the hare kind of comparison. Time will tell how it’ll work out for us.
But aside from all that, I see all this development on the Foss (not a bad thing), and in areas like St Helens (also not bad)… but where is the love for areas that actually need the facelift?
McKinley?
Lincoln/International Dist?
Hilltop?
I mean, it’s fine that we want to polish our jems, but it seems we’re blindsighted to our diamonds in the rough.
E Erik B. July 31, 2008
Great summary Whitney of the Foss projects.
Frustrating to see so many projects still stuck.
Its a nice looking area to walk around in. Too bad its so incredibly empty except for when tall ships is around.
E EDC July 31, 2008
The Esplanade is mostly finished.
Interesting comment becaue when we drove by there just a few days ago my 5yr old ask me what color do you think they will paint that building. I just had to laugh and tell her it’s already painted swettie.
F Fuzzybear July 31, 2008
Downtown Tacoma is a tough little place to get larger projects going (see Prium and Gintz). Just when you think you’ve nailed down a building concept, condo sales drop, or businesses threaten to move, which affects the overall perception that Tacoma is not a residential destination or a class A office space haven. Then try making (and submitting) changes to your design as the market shifts. Ay Karumba! It will be nice to see everything get moving.
C CA July 31, 2008
“what color do you think they will paint that building.”
HaHa. I was thinking the same thing. It really is a boring color scheme.