Paperwork delays construction of Tacoma hotel ramp by a month

Building a ramp to allow an alternate path into a city parking garage so a 300-room hotel can be constructed will be delayed until January.

The city of Tacoma said the ramp’s construction adjacent to the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center would begin Dec. 27. The ramp, at the southeast corner of the building, will bypass the hotel construction site and allow cars into the parking garage. A stair tower on the convention center will be removed to make way for the ramp.

The difference in start times essentially amounts to a paperwork delay, said Elly Walkowiak, business development manager with the city of Tacoma.

The paperwork, called a right of entry agreement, allows construction crews and the developer, Yareton Investment and Management LLC, to enter the property even though they won’t own it until around April or March, Walkowiak said. The developer is also posting a bond that would pay the city to replace any improvements that are demolished if the project is halted before the property is sold to the developer.

Sidewalks in the area will be closed through March 2017 to allow ramp construction, according to a city news release Wednesday.

Construction on the ramp will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Expect to see construction workers and heavy trucks in the area.

By April, the $85 million hotel’s construction site will be surrounded by a fence. At that time through the end of construction, visitors to the convention center will not be able to enter from the south side of the building. Convention center visitors will be directed to enter the facility at the Commerce and South 15th streets entrance.

The Marriott-branded hotel is projected to open in the summer of 2019.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Paperwork delays construction of Tacoma hotel ramp by a month."