Conflict on Fawcett Avenue as homeless shelter, upscale apartments try to co-exist
Taken separately, Midtown Lofts apartment complex and the Beacon Senior Center’s overnight young adult shelter are Tacoma success stories, each offering a solution to the city’s struggles.
For Midtown Lofts, that’s housing and downtown investment.
The project was built from the ashes of a failed condominium venture, finally opening in 2011 as a 50-unit upscale apartment complex after 11 years of financial stalls and two housing downturns.
The Beacon center, meanwhile, is the only overnight shelter for young adults in a county in dire need of shelter space.
The city-owned facility splits time between senior services and the overnight shelter, which started as a temporary shelter in 2015. It provides sleeping quarters for people 18 to 24, with capacity of about 40-50 per night.
Sounds like a win-win, but their proximity — they’re just across from each other on Fawcett Avenue — has become a problem.
Some residents and the owner of Midtown Lofts say that for years their street has been plagued with noise, verbal and physical altercations and drug deals stemming from people using the Beacon center shelter. They’ve started recording and taking photos of activities occurring outside their building.
Operators of the shelter say it’s not so simple. Not all of the disturbances are caused by their clients, they say, and people who use the shelter consist of a vulnerable population, often coming to the shelter with familial struggles or substance use issues.
In 2018, the city announced its plan to make a permanent space for an overnight shelter and drop-in space for youth and young adults, inflaming the frustration of some residents. A city feasibility study determined the Beacon Center was the best location, citing a proximity to transit and potential job opportunities.
Will Midtown Lofts and Beacon Center ever be able to exist in harmony?
Midtown Lofts residents
Public meetings held in October and November about the overnight shelter turned contentious. Midtown Lofts residents told city staff people using the center “are not considerate of the community’s needs, including excessive noise and suspected drug dealings,” according to notes taken at a Nov. 21 meeting supplied by the city of Tacoma.
Steve Rhay is one Midtown Lofts resident who attended the meetings. When he first moved in to Midtown Lofts with his wife in 2016, the issues started as noise disturbances.
In the months after moving in, Rhay said he noticed an escalation, from fighting and arguments in the streets, loitering, excessive trash and litter, camping near the property and possible drug dealing. The activity occurred primarily on Fawcett Avenue, where many Beacon Center clients line up to enter the shelter. When asked how he knew people on the street used the young adult shelter, Rhay said they were familiar faces — or he asked them if they used the shelter.
Other residents feel the same way.
Joe Andresen-Tenace first moved into Midtown Lofts three years ago with his husband, Rob Andresen-Tenace.
They’ve noticed the most activity coming from around Beacon Center in the early mornings when the clients leave the shelter, and the evenings, when the shelter opens to clients.
In one instance, Andresen-Tenace said, he was having coffee on his balcony one morning when a Beacon Center client started yelling at him.
“He stepped out into the middle of the road and started cussing me out,” he told The News Tribune.
Skyler Bowen-Laudenslager, a senior at Stadium High School, moved into Midtown Lofts a year ago with her mom. Bowen-Laudenslager said she’s also witnessed people hanging out near the shelter shouting insults and engaging in other misbehavior.
“The most recent one … was when someone broke in and slept on the (lobby) couch,” she said. “We’d go out to walk the dog at the night and mornings and there would be fights.”
Down the street from Midtown Lofts, Peter MacDonald and Maureen McHugh live in two houses owned by MacDonald. They say they’ve also noticed increased trash, encampments and theft on their properties.
“I imagine that 99 percent of the kids in that shelter are just great,” MacDonald said. “It’s always the 1 percent that’s the problem. My whole problem with the shelter is it needs security around it in the evening and morning.”
For years, residents kept in touch with city and shelter staff under the impression the city was looking for another location to house the shelter.
“Then all of a sudden there was an announcement — this where it’s going to all stay,” Rhay said.
Homeless shelter
When Comprehensive Life Resources took on the role of managing the shelter in August 2018 from Community Youth Services (CYS), it knew part of the work would be coordinating neighborhood response.
“We did a lot of outreach,” said James Pogue, executive director of homeless services for CLR. “We went door to door. We met a lot of partners.”
Jacob Nau, who operates the shelter, has crossed the street numerous times to talk to the office manager and residents at Midtown Lofts, Pogue said.
Comprehensive Life Resources provides homeless services and is located down the street from the shelter. The organization also runs a day shelter at the HYPE Center on Tacoma Avenue that would be moved to Beacon Center after a remodel is completed.
CLR said it’s made changes to address the disturbances. Staff asked clients to wait for the shelter to open at the front of the center along 13th Street rather than on Fawcett Avenue, or at least two blocks away. CLR changed when the shelter opens from about 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. to reduce congregating outside, and it offers shuttle services from the day center to the overnight shelter.
“To transport people, we have to have two staff at the old location, two staff at the new location, and then one person going back and forth — which is not something we budgeted for, having five people on (shift) at the same time,” Pogue said.
CLR’s operating budget for both the overnight shelter and the day center is $460,000. The organization is projecting a quarter-of-a-million dollar loss this year.
“We will do what it takes, and (CLR) is essentially making a donation to the community because we believe in this work,” said Kim Zacher, CEO of CLR.
CLR also hired an outside security firm last year but found it to be ineffective. Security staff aren’t police officers, Zacher said — they don’t patrol, and not all of them are equally skilled with people who are experiencing mental health issues or trauma.
“We got to the point where they weren’t doing anything — they were mostly just sitting in our car for a lot of hours,” Zacher said. “That’s a lot of taxpayer dollars to just sit there in case there’s a response.”
As the renovation of the Beacon Center moves forward, CLR leaders say they’re open to continue working with Midtown Lofts residents.
“We’re trying to create a culture with the youth where they have some respect for the neighborhood,” Zacher said.
While CLR is responsible for the shelter, it can’t track where everyone is at all times. People outside the shelter could be anyone, participating in Beacon Center services or not.
“These are young people, many of whom have come from really difficult familial backgrounds … they’re very vulnerable,” Zacher said. “These youth have a lot of reasons not to trust us, not to trust adults.”
In February, CLR set up a meeting with staff and neighbors and formed an advisory committee that’s met every month.
“They’re all neighborhood partners looking at how can we be partners that help the young adults but also minimize our impact for the community,” Pogue said.
One of the members on the advisory board is Anne Bartlett, a resident at Midtown Lofts.
Bartlett has experience working with homeless youth through the National Runaway Switchboard communications system and said she’s supportive of having the shelter, knowing how rare it is for one to exist.
“They need to be close to public transportation, job opportunities — having them in the city is better,” she said. “I think that we have an opportunity now to do some problem solving.”
Midtown Lofts investors
As the owner of Midtown Lofts, Ken Vonderach said he feels like he’s being “kicked in the teeth” by the city, despite holding up his end of the bargain as a property owner.
Vonderach, who purchased Midtown Lofts in 2015, was under the impression the Beacon Center shelter was going to be temporary.
Right away, Vonderach said, he began interacting with the city and operators of the shelter as his tenants reported their complaints.
“The longer these things have gone on, the more brazen the participants have become,” Vonderach said from his home in Colorado.
With the plans for the new shelter, Vonderach is insisting on changes to oversight. He’s proposed solutions he thinks would help, including providing a place for the youth to hang out. He purchased picnic tables for the shelter, but the setup didn’t work with the way the building is structured, CLR staff said.
If nothing is done, Vonderach is considering selling his property and leaving Tacoma altogether.
Vonderach estimated he’s lost $70,000 from tenants leaving the complex because of the Beacon Center. He filed a claim with the city of Tacoma to make a point about the impacts. He said he was offered a settlement of $10,000 but doesn’t plan on taking it, saying the next owner will face the same problems.
Zacher said she told Vonderach that she respectfully disagrees with how he perceives CLR staff running the shelter.
“I don’t think it’s possible to do what we’re charged to do and maintain silence in the neighborhood,” she told The News Tribune. “I’m not sure how realistic that is.”
Vonderach is holding firm to his conditions. In an email to city leaders on Nov. 22, he shared his frustrations.
“When we invested in Tacoma, we had heard great things about the city, the City Council, and the proactive nature of the government. Unfortunately, it has turned out to not be true, and I can assure you that in my circle of real estate investors, that covers the greater Pacific Northwest, the real story of Tacoma is being shared with those that ask me about our investments, and interaction with the city and the city government,” Vonderach wrote.
Chris Coates is CEO of TRA Medical Imaging, which is catty-corner to the Beacon Center on 13th Street. Coates shared his frustrations in the same email chain. The group bought and renovated the property 10 years ago.
“Our concerns about the safety and lack of enforcement have been documented and communicated with TPD and the city for some time now,” he wrote in the email, citing arrests outside the property and harassment of employees. “... It seems fairly obvious to us that the cost of having homeless shelters co-locate with business and residential areas is funding adequate security and law enforcement.”
Jason Heminger, the owner of Alma Mater down the street from Beacon Center, knew when he took over the space four years ago that there was a homelessness presence along Fawcett.
Heminger said it comes with the territory.
“We’ve just come in acknowledging that there has been and will be a continuing presence, and frankly from the trends, a growing presence of homelessness,” Heminger said.
Heminger has put forth efforts to get to know the clients through music programming and group meals.
“I have to trust the city planners and architects and engineers when they say that based on their feasibility study, this is the best location,” Heminger said. “It doesn’t make sense to me to keep pushing the homeless out of various communities.”
City of Tacoma
After email complaints to city leaders on Nov. 22, City Manager Elizabeth Pauli sent a letter to the community addressing the concerns and highlighting actions already taken by the city.
To date, the city has repaired streetlights between 11th and 13th streets on Fawcett Avenue as requested by Midtown Lofts residents. Pauli also said the Tacoma Police Department is enhancing patrols in the area during shelter operations and will be funding additional staff at both the overnight and drop-in shelters.
“Neighborhood and Community Services will work closely with the City Manager’s Office and Comprehensive Life Resources over the next 30 days to develop and share additional strategies to ensure responsiveness and communication with the community,” Pauli added.
Rhay said he appreciated the response from Pauli and said things have been slightly quieter since. He hopes the promises stick.
Others were less hopeful, including Vonderach, who said he won’t be satisfied until the current operation of the shelter is changed.
Bowen-Laudenslager said the response felt dismissive.
“The city’s lack of actions is really ridiculous to me,” she said.
Beacon Center clients
Alejandro Maciel doesn’t know where he’d be if he didn’t have the Beacon Center shelter.
“I’d probably be back on the streets,” the 23-year-old said.
Maciel moved to Tacoma from Seattle earlier this year and has experienced intermittent homelessness.
He was referred to the Beacon Center shelter through REACH Tacoma, which helps people 16-24 seeking to advance their educational, career and life goals. He’s been staying there for about a year.
He wants people to know that many clients come from violent environments and use the shelter to try to advance beyond that.
“Everyone who frowns on us, they don’t want to understand that we’re here to better ourselves,” Maciel said.
Maciel said a lot of young adults in the shelter feel judged just by going about their business.
“Sometimes we’re just walking to get to work ... and they’re always giving us a funny look like we’re doing something wrong,” Maciel said.
Maciel said he never gets any response from people on Fawcett when he tries to interact.
“I love speaking face to face. That’s something they just don’t allow us to do,” he said.
Residents nearby said they aren’t unsympathetic.
“To even criticize this program, you take a risk of being judged in public as being unsympathetic — that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Rhay said. “But you lose empathy very quickly when the bad behaviors continue... And it’s especially frustrating when you feel like you’re not being taken seriously when you bring these issues forward.”
Joe Andresen-Tenace thinks it’s not such an easy problem to solve.
“I’ve been in their situation. I was homeless when I was young … I know a lot of these kids are LGBT. And I know they were thrown out by family because of that. So I know they got it tough,” he said.
Maciel thinks it would be beneficial to open the doors between clients and neighbors.
“The people who have those altercations are really good people if you have a one-one-one conversation and find a deep understanding of who they are ... They’re normal people. They just have certain barriers because of what they’re used to, what they grew up in,” Maciel said.
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 6:15 AM.
