Rethinking Retail in Downtown Tacoma?
In today’s City Council Study Session, City Manager Eric Anderson brought up a request from the developers of Pacific Plaza.
If you recall, Pacific Plaza is the new and improved version of the city-owned Park Plaza South at South 13th and Pacific Avenue.
Today’s message from the City Manager is that the developer is looking for procedural guidance for how to modify their agreement with the city that requires retail on the first floor of the project. The market conditions are better for commercial than retail. Therefore, all or part of the first floor could be more easily filled with commercial office space. The question doesn’t state how much. The question merely asks about the process.
Should the Council agree to the change, the cost to rent the space as an office would be set at the market rate. At this point, since downtown retail is defined as a public good, the rental rate for the first floor spaces was set at $1 in the city owned project.
The bigger question that began to percolate was whether the City still considered retail a necessary public good?
Councilmember Lonergan asked whether, by allowing this change, do we forgo for the foreseeable future the creation of retail on our main street in downtown. This hasn’t been the stated direction so far. In response, Councilmember Ladenburg voiced her concern over vacant space by stating that the City should rethink its position if there’s a market for commercial space.
How should we handle this? Do we fill potential retail space in order to get bodies in the building or hold firm on a policy that tries to bring retail downtown? Should the policy change due to market conditions?
Filed under: General
43 comments
M Morty October 13, 2009
The developer submitted a proposal to the Attorney General. The entire ground floor of Park Plaza would be needed to accommodate the AG’s office needs but unfortunately as it is retail space it does not qualify. I suspect the change is only being initiated in order to lure the AG.
But to answer your question, no, street level space along the main thoroughfare in the Central Business District must maintain a retail component in order to maintain the nature of the neighborhood. Every City I know of has similar requirements. There is still a lot of flexibility, traditional retail, restaurants, retail office such as an insurance agency or real estate office etc. but there are many other options for private office space. This zoning makes sense.
N NSHDscott October 13, 2009
Wait … what do you get for the rental rate of $1? Is that per square foot per month, or what?
S Steve October 14, 2009
Like NSHDscott, I am dying for details on the rental rate. If they are actually struggling to fill that with retail at $1/sf/yr or something then I fear all hope is lost for retail in Tacoma.
D David Curry October 14, 2009
This current situation has the potential of being an opportunity to continue to reshape our downtown to be a real walkable urban center. People want to work in a vibrant downtown- if we sell out on this issue we’ll lose much more than we’d gain in the short term. We’ve already made this mistake before.
R reenerb October 14, 2009
More commercial space? Has anyone else noticed that the buildings surrounding the Pacific Plaza have had commercial space available for at least 1.5 years? It’s time for a grocery store!
E Erik B. October 14, 2009
It is a bit early to abandon retail on the first floor of Pacific Plaza. The remains of the Luzon are still being picked up and the street is still closed.
Perhaps Pacific Plaza needs to simply drop the asking price for the retail space down to what the market will support.
Pacific Plaza was heavily subsidized by the City of Tacoma. One of the requirements of Pacific Plaza was that it was supposed to have retail on the first floor.
Just because retail is not the highest return that can be obtained at the present time does not mean the city should now renegotiate the agreement.
The difference in rent, and agreement to have retail on the first floor was made part of the deal to justify the public investment.
T TacomaThinker October 14, 2009
What a difficult question to answer.
Run the risk of years with empty spaces, bankruptcy, and a hemorrhage of tax dollars to dig the city out of the red
or
Kill a part of the fragile effort to get life on Tacoma’s downtown streets.
If there is something like a 10year variance granted it may scare away the AG; on the other hand, the economy could recover quicker than expected and we could have a market for retail and lending…but I’ll reserve my pipe dreams for the trolley.
J Jesse October 14, 2009
This dilema is a symptom of a larger problem. The Tacoma Mall is too close to DT for the DT to have viable retail without the population getting extremely larger within the core. Broker a deal to move the mall out to HWY 512 and make an urban mall out of the convention center. Then you’d see shopping return to DT.
M Morgan October 14, 2009
It’s hard to imagine any retail succeeding down there without more “feet on the street” – maybe they should turn the space into student housing and artist studios (said with tongue ever so slightly in cheek).
M Mofo from the Hood October 14, 2009
Stop with the “Giants” that are blocking retail from setting up shop in downtown.
The Tacoma Mall is miles away.
Let me say that again.
The Tacoma Mall is miles away.
Now. Go downtown to 13th and Pacific and stand in front of Pacific Plaza. Okay, now look around at all the tall buildings and try to guess what is inside them.
Did you guess people?
Alright. Now, assuming that all the buildings that you can see have some windows, and people behind them, is it then possible that if you can see buildings with people then those people can see you?
While you look at all the buildings with people in them, try to notice if any cars or buses pass by you. Did you see any? If so, then at least one person per vehicle has passed Park Plaza and maybe seen you.
People Downtown = Potential Retail Customers
Is this statement:
Always true?
Sometimes true?
Never true?
All of the above
T Thorax O'Tool October 14, 2009
I thought were were about to be handed a HUGE amount of commercial space when Russell gives us the final one-finger salute…
Here, I side with Mofo… I personally dislike going to the mall. Never been a mall rat, and I rather dislike the traffic on 38th.
And god help you if you park at Borders and decide to cross 38th on foot to go to Play ‘n Trade. You’ll be rewarded by waiting 9 minuets between the walk signals (which are too shot to make it across unless you’re Jesse Owens).
If there was more retail in downtown, I’d be going there. It’s closer, it’s more bus-friendly for me, I can bike there and back without having to brave 5-lane roads and (this does matter to some of us) it’s not the mall.
T TacomaThinker October 14, 2009
@10
nice post mofo
F frizzlebee October 14, 2009
When was the last time that our City Manager (or certain other members of the council) made a decision or had an idea that helped, rather than hindered downtown improvement? Tear down the Luzon, delay new construction on Thea Foss, add more empty office space, delay the LeMay museum… the list goes on.
Wouldn’t you think that the plans were drawn up for Pacific Plaza to have retail on the base floor for a reason? Be it a grocery store, another rug store, or (please, no) a McDonalds, it would be better than office space.
J jamie from thriceallamerican October 14, 2009
If the rental rate for the first floor is set at $1, why is CommercialMLS.com advertising it at $24?
B Brett October 14, 2009
It’s not $1. If it was, I’d find something to open up there. Maybe even try to get some TI $‘s too!
Y You're Welcome October 14, 2009
I was just at the mall yesterday (boo, hiss, I know, I know) and I noticed that some of the big name retailers are gone: Lady footlocker, Areopostal, that kitchen store…
Tacoma might not even be able to support a mall if we’re not careful.
N Nick October 14, 2009
I agree with Thorax, downtown is a much more enjoyable environment than the mall. I absolutely HATE going to the mall, and only go there when I’ve exhaustively searched for any alternative. That is something downtown has that has yet to be capitalized on.
N Nick October 14, 2009
And if rents were really going to be $1/sq ft I would sign a lease tomorrow. NO idea what I would do, but at that price I would find something.
T Tacoma (A)roma October 15, 2009
Hopefully we won’t get another bail bonds place.
6 6ther October 15, 2009
The only downtown retail spaces on Pacific going for a dollar per foot are the spaces next to Hal of a Sub.
Maybe they mixed up 9th and Pacific with 12th and Pacific.
J Jesse October 15, 2009
Mofo @10: So you’re saying the mall had nothing to do with the demise of shopping downtown? That must be what you’re saying because all those windows and businesses full of people, that you speak of, would have sustained both the Tacoma mall and ANOTHER Sears and ANOTHER JC Penney, etc., etc, etc., in the downtown core.
Almost anyone on here can tell you shopping disappeared DT when the mall opened. So, with all confidence, I can say you are wrong.
Ps- The mall is at exit 132 and DT Tacoma is at exit 133. That’s one mile.
C crenshaw sepulveda October 15, 2009
We will not get another bail bonds office, but in the location of the former Rocky & Coco’s will be a spanking new tattoo shop. Maybe another tattoo shop or two and we’ll catch up with downtown Olympia.
D Derek staff October 15, 2009
re: $1.00 Rent
It appears that the City is renting the space to the developer for $1.00 / year. The actual rates for the occupants would not be the same. That said, here’s an excerpt from a letter by Eric Anderson to Dan Putnam (CEO of PCS Structural Solutions) from yesterday:
I have asked for additional clarification, but that’s what we know right now.
J jamie from thriceallamerican October 15, 2009
Thanks Derek…so it seems to me that the developer might (depending on sunk costs) still be able to pull a tidy profit if they lowered retail rental rates to entice tenants. The city should be pushing this angle first.
T TacomaThinker October 15, 2009
The AG would not occupy the full lower floor, only half. And on the other side the word is that serious negotiations with a grocery store continue on.
So I stood on the corner and realized with the combo of Wells Fargo plaza + the office space in the adjacent spaces to the north + the parking lot to the southeast + a Luzon graveyard – retail is nearly non-existent. So whether retail stays or goes for Pac Plaza it’s a long long time before that area has an urban vibe.
M Mofo from the Hood October 15, 2009
Mofo @10: So you’re saying the mall had nothing to do with the demise of shopping downtown? That must be what you’re saying because all those windows and businesses full of people, that you speak of, would have sustained both the Tacoma mall and ANOTHER Sears and ANOTHER JC Penney, etc., etc, etc., in the downtown core.
Almost anyone on here can tell you shopping disappeared DT when the mall opened. So, with all confidence, I can say you are wrong.
Ps- The mall is at exit 132 and DT Tacoma is at exit 133. That’s one mile.—-posted by Jesse @22.
—————————————————————
Thanks Jesse. I’m old enough to remember downtown before the Tacoma Mall opened in 1963.
It wasn’t the case that once the lights were flipped on at the Mall, then downtown became suddenly dark.
It took about 15 years before the last of the well known retailers left. I’m speaking of Peoples Department Store which is now Key Bank on the corner of 11th & Pacific.
So from 1963 to say 1978 there was a gradual decline of long time retailers in the core from 13th to 9th ST and from Market ST to A ST. One really great street was Broadway before the urban renewal program destroyed it with the plaza concept from 13th to 9th ST. I still cringe when I walk that section (in fact I just did today).
During the approximate 15 year decline from ’63 to ’78 there still was general corporate style retail on Broadway like Rhodes Department Store, Woolworths, Pay Less Drugs, Kress, plus independents like LeRoy Jewelers (which is still open), and two first-run movie theatres: the Rialto and the Roxy (now the Pantages).
Now, here’s a little homespun take on the demise of downtown after 1963. All of the people who did shop downtown, my parents generation, and their parents generation, were quite conscious of the gradual demise. Try to imagine people outwardly lamenting, and I don’t think it’s too strong to say that a whole generation, if not two or three, were in a sense demoralized. The third generation, mine, well let me put it this way, nearly everybody I knew wanted to leave town after graduating high school.
Take a look at the website Tacoma Then & Now: 1979. What you don’t see is the power source behind the scenes: Jack Daniels, dime bags of Acapulco Gold, mushrooms, and windowpane acid. Oh, that reminds me, I do have some photos that I shot of President Jimmy Carter’s motorcade passing in front of Union Station, around 1977.
Anyway, what I was attempting to say at #10 was don’t let “Giants” like the Tacoma Mall or members of the real estate propaganda machine or whatever your “Giant” is, don’t let these imagined obstacles sustain the demoralization of Tacomans and prevent first class retail from setting up shop downtown. And if you haven’t caught on yet to what I’m talking about when I say multi-generational lamenting and demoralization, then just read some of the talk about Tacoma amongst Tacomans over the past two years—-read the comments on E133 and FeedTacoma. There’s an undertone of forced confidence and uncertainty and moments of despair; and the amazing thing is that I’m reading about it from the hearsay words of many, maybe post-1990?, immigrants to Tacoma.
But let’s look at this new retail space called Pacific Plaza. The face of the building looks upscale. Compared to what? How about compared to the Tacoma Mall.
I think it’s basic that if you want to attract an upscale clientele then you need to have “The Look.”—-Pacific Plaza has “The Look.”
Secondly, proximity to an upscale clientele would be preferable. For starters: Wells Fargo Plaza, Columbia Bank Headquarters, Key Bank Headquarters, Rainier Pacific Building, Cliff ST Lofts, Marriot Hotel visitors, Murano visitors, UWT extended family—-Pacific Plaza has proximity.
Lastly, here’s what I think would fit. I would like to see a couple of specialty clothing stores with a small assortment of basics. A mens store with wool slacks, dress shirts, ties, belts, foundation items. A women’s store with whatever women call basics. Again, specialty stores with a small selection of items that the nearby office workers and visitors to UW would need on a regular basis or gift basis.
Dream a Dream. Build a Team.
T tressie October 15, 2009
thanks, mofo, for this:
“So from 1963 to say 1978 there was a gradual decline of long time retailers in the core from 13th to 9th ST and from Market ST to A ST. One really great street was Broadway before the urban renewal program destroyed it with the plaza concept from 13th to 9th ST. I still cringe when I walk that section (in fact I just did today).
During the approximate 15 year decline from ’63 to ’78 there still was general corporate style retail on Broadway like Rhodes Department Store, Woolworths, Pay Less Drugs, Kress, plus independents like LeRoy Jewelers (which is still open), and two first-run movie theatres: the Rialto and the Roxy (now the Pantages). “
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Mark was in Seattle’s University District doing his job (AAA) and was sickened by the Total Corporate Plastic Hood…I told him that is the model that CityMangler Eric Anderson wants. Kill all small business, kill all art, and install Big Box Cutie Pie corporate stores and restaurants…
T Tacoma (A)roma October 15, 2009
I would love to see some clothing shops as well, that building is too nice to house cubicle farms. Great post!
S Stan R. Lee October 15, 2009
If we completely give up on retail in the downtown core, we might as well put the final “headstone” on any thought of retail in the core. Yes, this is presently not a good climate in the economy for retail. This is not a permanent climate. We have and will have more peole living downtown. They need retail space for services to support the growth. Having the “retail giants” of the 50’s & 60’s downtown, probably won’t happen for quite awhile, if ever. We must focus on the downtown retail core of services that will support people living & working downtown. It will come. We can’t give the cause up now. The journey of retail downtown has been a long road. For the future of the community, we can ot install the “Dead End” signs downtown for retail development.
M Mofo from the Hood October 15, 2009
At some point in the planning of Pacific Plaza someone with a little influence suggested that the 1st floor should be rented exclusively to retail tenants.
The assumption following that retail tenants are desirable. And that furthermore, the procurement of retail tenants is within the range of skills and influence of at least one person in Tacoma.
So in the spirit of community interest, “Does anybody out there know of somebody who would consider setting up a retail shop in Pacific Plaza?”
“Maybe you all know of someone in Rotary or Kiwanis or City Club or Chamber of Commerce or Church or even a fellow member of your private golf course or tennis club.”
Give it some thought.
T Thorax o'Tool October 16, 2009
What worries me about the situation is something non-Tacoma specific.
In case no one had noticed (and yes, I do have to bring this up), during the last 10 years, retail boomed as much as housing. Folks could cash in their equity or rack up Mr Discover for all the goodies they could possibly want. For good or ill, our economy was something like 71% consumer spending. For an idea of just how big that is, our GDP was like $14 TRILLION… that means that spending was something along the lines of $9.94 teradollars.
Well, as we all know, some sh*t happened, hosing lost at least 35% of it’s value (equity? what equity?) and something like 20 million people lost their jobs… spending has taken a hit, big time.
Look at all the companies going under… even HUGE names like Circuit City, freaking GENERAL MOTORS etc. Simon filed chapter 11, the guys who own Pacific Place in Seattle filed chapter 11 (don’t know what the current status on that is), etc etc.
So what really bothers me is that Tacoma makes it hard for retail in good times. Things don’t bode well for retail in very bad times unless we get more proactive, know what we want and get it to come here or sprout organically.
M Mofo from the Hood October 16, 2009
One argument against family-owned retail, the sort of shops that I suggested at #27, is that these types of entities are inefficient for the consumer and the price mark-ups work against the consumer’s budgeting and desire for a higher standard of living.
This argument against family-owned retail goes back as far as the 1920’s. One-stop shopping at chain stores like supermarkets or Wal-Mart or centers like the Tacoma Mall is more efficient, you get more for your money, and therefore these types of entities are good.
If the new retail space at Pacific Plaza is converted to other uses then the reason is most likely a political reason.
There is no lack of potential retail customers in the immediate proximity.
D DavidS October 16, 2009
Every time this issue comes up (retail space converted to office), I think about the flexibility of locating office uses versus retail spaces. There is a very finite amount of space available for viable retail options. Conversely, nearly any space can be converted to office space.
Our downtown is about to have a massive amount of vacant square footage that cannot be used for anything but offices (though I suppose it could be condominiumized with some work). We should be looking for opportunities to help transition Russell out while moving in a new tenant
Now if the City wanted to charge the owner the $24/sf market and let the owner decide to take the hit on the section that is retail to attract a tenant for the rest, then I’d be open to it. (PS: It shouldn’t be one of these “only in govt.” 50 year deals either.)
T TacomaThinker October 17, 2009
There’s 20 round holes available, my square peg should fit in one of them.
D David Boe October 17, 2009
As an urban design component, retail for the most part is parasitic – it feeds off the main ogranism of a density populace rather than be a creater of that density itself (other than when you get enough retail clustered together to make it a self-generating attraction like a Westlake Center). As long as there is a regional shopping mall 6.5 minutes from Downtown Tacoma (via an almost direct automobile connection), I do not see how any large retail complex would ever be sustainable Downtown (would Westlake survive if Northgate was only 6.5 minutes from 4th and Pine?). Since we have the mall – just connect the bLINK direct to it. Wouldn’t Downtown-T benefit from having Nordstroms just a 15 minute rail ride away? The City just needs to dust off Paula Reese’s 2003 Retail Strategy and then allow just about any use to be at the street level as long as new construction meets a miminum transparency requirement and has direct access to the sidewalk (so when retail does arrive, the spaces are easily converted) and then look at everything possible to provide incentive for housing above. Barcelona has great density of residential and office space all above street level spaces that have every use imaginable – cafe, next to stationary store, next to grocery store, next to auto-repair, next to hardware store, etc… And that was the density that Downtown T had a hundred years ago. So lets go forward by going back.
J JennEric October 17, 2009
Gotta set up a tattoo removal shop someplace.
M Mofo from the Hood October 18, 2009
If this was 1962 and someone asked me how I would kill family-owned retail in downtown Tacoma, this would be my 3-Step Process.
1) Design a covered mall shopping center and place it next to Interstate 5 (the new expanding superhighway at that point). Construct the mall approximately between downtown Tacoma and Lakewood.
2) Demolish buildings downtown so as to reduce the number of storefronts from which to conduct a retail business. Secondary Effect: Reducing the supply of storefronts to meet demand thereby enables landlords to charge increasing rental rates. Higher rental rates eliminate the number of qualified family-owned businesses because of their probable limited net worth and access to borrowed capital.
3) Reconfigure the traditional feeder streets from the North End, and the car and bus entry point to the acknowledged mainstreet for retail: Broadway from 9th ST to 13th ST.
There’s a whole lot of talk about increasing the population density downtown in order to ensure a clientele for a new wave of retail stores. I don’t know how that conversation started but it has expanded from a false assumption. One of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Tacoma is just a few blocks north from 9th and Broadway. That neighborhood is nowadays called the Stadium District.
If you’re not familiar with driving downtown to 9th & Broadway from the Stadium District, let me give you fair warning, the former feeder streets of St. Helens and Broadway have been restricted to one-way traffic. They were both formerly two-way streets, as well as the main bus routes for the 6th Avenue Bus (via St. Helens) and the Pt. Defiance Bus (via Broadway).
At one time, before the infamous Broadway Plaza disaster, one the most well-known bus stops was on the corner of S. 11th and Broadway, right in front of Woolworth’s store. One could catch either the 6th & Stevens bus or the Pt. Defiance bus and also the University Place bus which likewise ran up 6th Avenue. Three bus routes headed north from the midpoint of the retail core of Broadway ST.
Now, without counting all the people who came to Broadway from the other three directions, you can guess that a whole lot of people just from the North End were passing along the acknowledged main street for retail.
Well I said at point #3 of my 3-Step Process to kill retail that the feeder streets and the main street must be reconfigured. What you can see today is that St. Helens and Broadway north of 9th ST. have been restricted from their former utility. Broadway ST. from 9th to 13th has likewise been restricted from its former utility and celebrated status. These three former key streets, once a triple source of two-way utility to and for downtown retail, are now a triple source of futility.
To this day, Broadway St. from 9th to 13th has not recoverd from the retail massacre that started before the Tacoma Mall opened. Yes, the Tacoma Mall enticed some key retailers from downtown. But the massacre got bloodier after the Brodway Plaza blocked the flow of motor traffic. When Broadway street was finally opened again, its lanes for two-way traffic were never as wide. But to further ensure the near total devastation of this former mainstreet for retail, many buildings were demolished—-Nearly a whole block between 9th and 11th ST from the Pantages Building to Woolworths.
The 3-Step process to kill family-owned retail in downtown wasn’t an original idea of mine, it’s a tried and true method that I witnessed as it happened.
So today there’s a whole lot of talk about increasing the population density downtown.
We need more people—-As if all the people that I just mentioned who live in just one small area of Tacoma, as if all those people don’t factor into the density equation for the success of downtown retail.
But what about the new retail space at Pacific Plaza?
Hey, haven’t you heard? This is 2009. Downtown needs density.
J Jesse October 18, 2009
Since corporate retail probably wouldn’t survive unless the mall ove out further from the core, why not destination corporate retail? Where would you make a special trip to? I’d think a good start would have been a Nordstroms but since they built at the mall, a Nordstroms Rack. How about furniture stores? What about that big novelty store in Seattle with all the magic stuff (the name???? shoot…) Basically stores that people make special trips to.
I’m not a huge fan of culture-sucking corporate stores, restarants, and services but I think having them in the same area as mom and pop’s business helps all businesses in that area.
C crenshaw sepulveda October 18, 2009
People only have so many dollars to spend on retail and dining. It seems to me that they are already doing this just fine without any fancy new opportunities downtown. What happens to the retail and dining in the rest of Tacoma if the money starts flowing downtown?
M Mofo from the Hood October 18, 2009
As I noted at #33, the argument against family-owned retail goes back as far as the 1920’s. One-stop shopping at chain stores like supermarkets or Wal-Mart or centers like the Tacoma Mall is more efficient, you get more for your money, and therefore these types of entities are good.
The 1920’s marks the rise of the car culture. With this new innovation, people began to easily travel greater distances from a walkable downtown core which may have had dense residential as well as commercial settlement.
The era of the 1920’s also marks the rise of the advertising age—-The new age of controlling perceptions for commercial gain. Persuasion and rhetoric had been taught since the ancient Sophists of the Golden Age of Athens. The Sophists were teachers who didn’t believe that there were absolute truths. Since there was no such thing, there was no point in looking for it. For the Sophists, the pursuit of truth, the pursuit of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful was a fool’s errand. Such things are matters of metaphysics which is best left to pondering philosophers. For the ancient Sophists as well as modern day advertisers, and I’ll add most politicians, the major concern is what works right now.
In Tacoma, right now at Pacific Plaza, there is new centrally located downtown storefront space designated exclusively for retail tenants.
It has proximity to densely populated commercial settlement. It has proximity to densely populated residential settlement. Both settlements within reasonably walkable proximity.
Given that, in a conversation about rethinking retail in downtown Tacoma, how can one account for any emphasis on diverting the public’s attention toward the Tacoma Mall?
The Tacoma Mall is an element of the car culture. It is an element of suburban planning.
Lastly, I noted at #39 how to kill a walkable urban retail core. Since the massacre on Broadway Street, there has been great rebuilding in another part of downtown. The concentration of new development has centered at the former Northern Pacific Railway passenger terminal called Union Station. Trains, and dare I mention streetcars to this audience, are a service industry that serves to take people away from urban centers to suburbia. How ironic for Tacoma that its latest wave of downtown rebuilding—-the Union Station district including Foss Waterway—-has many of the characterics of a suburb—-Long blocks designed for high-speed traffic, decentralized in terms of a public center, and an inhuman scale of open spaces that makes walking impractical for daily routine errands or touristic leisure.
If Tacoma is the City of Destiny, then its fate, its twilight zone of futility, was sealed in the late 1800’s by the urban planners of the Northern Pacific Railway.
To this day, a large measure of local conversation emphasizes why and how to get away from downtown Tacoma.
C crenshaw sepulveda October 18, 2009
I would suppose the best thing to do is to see if we can keep some of the money flowing out of Tacoma for what ever reason it flows out of Tacoma. Certainly people that want to see the Mariners will not be happy staying in Tacoma to see the Rainiers. Still some money is flowing out of Tacoma to Seattle, Portland, and Olympia. How can we keep this money in Tacoma and not have people spend their money elsewhere? On the other hand, maybe people like getting out of Tacoma from time to time and would go elsewhere even if the opportunities existed in Tacoma. The Sepulveda plan for downtown is pretty simple. Downtown needs a resident population of about 12,000 additional people. A population split between resident college students and non-students would be about right. A population like that would provide the necessary population to support virtually any kind of service in the downtown core and it wouldn’t end up poaching on business from other Tacoma areas. An additional 12k residents in downtown, that it the magic formula. Of couse that takes about 4000-5000 additional residential units to accomplish that. Don’t see that happening anytime soon. If we could use some of that money we would have given Russell it might be a good start. 5000 units at 100k each equals 500 million and all of this would be paid back by those that buy or rent these units.
M Mofo from the Hood October 19, 2009
There’s just a whole lot of people in Tacoma that believe if any constructive change is going to happen downtown then the money needs to come from either the public treasure chest, or The New Metaphysical Downtown Benevolent Society needs to sell raffle tickets to import 10,000 wealthy apartment dwellers.
If for some reason I can’t find a qualified tenant to set up a family-owned retail shop at Pacific Plaza, that beautiful new storefront on the corner of 13th & Pacific, then here’s what the naysayer’s deserve:
A brand new public agency,
• CITY OF TACOMA DEPARTMENT OF DENSITY •
T TacomaThinker October 20, 2009
Open a store called “Chairs” and sell 400 different types of chairs from Salvaged to Designer and everything in between. They could hang from the ceiling or on the walls and you could have a loft where craftsmen are building or upholstering or designing ….chairs.