To get hyped up over the latest idea to restore Tacoma’s old Elks Temple downtown – by converting the ground floor into a grand bus station – we first have to get past all the hype.
Advocates for the Elks rehab have referred to it as Tacoma’s version of New York City’s Grand Central Station or London’s Victoria Station.
Let’s get real. I’ve traveled through both those stations. No way will our 1916 temple ever resemble either of those stations in size, scope, passenger volume, transit modes, historical value or cultural significance. Not even close.
Grand Central and Victoria stations each serves multiple rail, subway and bus lines that feed tens of millions of commuters and tourists into the core of their respective metropolis.
Tacoma’s version, if it happens, would serve thousands – and not even rank as the No. 1 station in its own city. Tacoma Dome station, because of its commuter rail connection to Seattle, always will serve more riders.
Nevertheless, I’m rooting big time for Ken Abbott and Trevin Anderson of Sirius Real Estate Group in their crazy smart bid to buy the Elks temple.
Sirius has a $200,000 earnest-money agreement to buy the temple for a bargain-basement $3 million from owner Williams & Dame, according to a source familiar with the deal. The Portland development company bought the temple in March 2007 for $4.25 million, according to Pierce County assessor-treasurer records.
Homer Williams, principal of Williams & Dame, said at the time his company bought the building and vacant lots adjacent to it that the payoff would never come through rehabbing the temple. Instead the profits from up to a 24-story condominium tower on the adjacent vacant north parcels could subsidize temple restoration.
When the condominium market tanked last year, it meant the end of Williams & Dame’s payoff and the end of the Elks temple rehab. The property went on the market in March for $5 million.
Originally, Sirius had until June 6 to decide whether to follow through on the purchase deal. Williams & Dame agreed to give Abbott and Anderson until June 20 to further investigate their rehabilitation and leasing prospects.
In an interview, Abbott declined to discuss the specifics of the potential purchase. But he hinted this venture likely wouldn’t prove very profitable.
“Trevin and I are Tacoma guys and we’re trying to do something good for Tacoma,” Abbott said. “I’ve seen some blogs where people are saying we’re idiots for trying to pull this off. Until we’re in a position to provide the full understanding of how we’re going to pull this off, opinions don’t matter now. … If you’re doing something as a public service to your community, you would like to break even.”
Sirius already has another venture that it hopes will be more profitable a couple of blocks north of the Elks. The condominiums in its 505 Broadway project – marketed as the most luxurious new units in Tacoma – should open this fall. The company’s Web site lists 17 of the 63 units as sold so far. You can understand how it would serve condo sales to have the Elks temple returned to some grandeur and active use.
Despite my anti-comparisons to New York and London, an indoor bus terminal in the ground floor makes extreme sense for the building. Of all the floors, that mostly windowless ground floor offers few options for tenants. It features old locker rooms and a swimming pool, and butts up against a hill. No office and few stand-alone retailers would pay for that kind of space. But make it a bus terminal, bore a pedestrian tunnel under the Spanish Steps next to the temple and construct a multiplatform indoor bus station in the lots to the south, and Tacoma would have a classy, modern, safe and functional bus station.
Pierce Transit will take up to a year to decide whether the Grand Elks Station makes sense for its bus system. I expect the agency to trade its smallish, outdoor, unexpandable bus center on Commerce Street for the Elks opportunity.
Meanwhile, Sirius has stated that a high-end restaurant would take an upper floor in the Elks while an architecture firm wants a middle floor.
You had to wonder if anything new would ever come along to make the place live again. The wide-open ballroom and theater floors with their 21-foot-tall ceilings don’t lend themselves to refurbishment for many moneymaking uses. The place lacks windows, which makes little sense for a property with such commanding views of Mount Rainier and Commencement Bay. (Apparently, the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks liked its privacy.) Because of the historic status of the temple, adding windows probably won’t happen.
Will Abbott and Anderson ultimately make the project happen? They already have discussed with the City of Tacoma the likelihood of a loan of up to $1.1 million. They have some tenant commitments and Pierce Transit’s potential play. They have the financial incentive from their nearby condominiums. They have an opportunity to become historic preservation heroes. And they have the hope of a city that has forlornly watched for decades as one of its civic treasures deteriorates like a salt lick in a monsoon.
Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785
