Two projects set to transform section of Tacoma Avenue with more than 300 new apartments
Developers hope to break ground next year on two apartment projects set for the 1600 block of Tacoma Avenue South in downtown.
The site was the scene of a massive building fire over the July 4 holiday last year that is still under investigation.
Pre-application plans were filed in November for 1624 Tacoma Ave. S. Le Petite Apartments is planned there, a 10-story project with 173 units and 72 parking stalls.
Le Maison Flats, a project at 1602 Tacoma Ave. S., is described as 10 stories with 144 units and around 70 parking stalls.
Alan Winningham of Seattle-based Theo Partner Investments is one of the projects’ developers. He told The News Tribune in a phone interview this week that Le Maison Flats could begin in spring, while Le Petite Apartments could start August of next year.
“We are just trying to deal with our construction financing at this moment,” he said.
These are the first Tacoma projects for the investors. The site is a bit of a geographic challenge for squeezing in both apartments and parking.
“The site is very steep,” he said. “And we have a very high water table there, so below Tacoma Avenue, there’s no excavation. It’s all at Tacoma Avenue into the hillside. There’s an alley that runs along the back of this half block, which is unimproved. So we’ll be improving the alley there and just butting up against the alley. Imagine just sort of a little triangular cut.”
Each building will have its own parking garage, according to Winningham. “They’re independent projects.”
Le Maison Flats was envisioned as workforce housing, but the economy has changed those plans, Winningham noted.
“When we first began this process, we were looking at workforce housing. But because of inflation, supply-chain disruption, and now a crazy macro financial event that’s happening, we’re simply looking at market-rate housing.”
The developers will seek eight-year multifamily property tax exemptions from the city for each project..
“Clearly the need for additional housing is not going to be cured by these two projects; it’ll just be a contributor,” Winningham said.
“I think some of the the forward thinking that the City Planning Department has underway, it creates a very positive investment environment,” he added. “I think Tacoma is definitely up and coming.”
Fire remains mystery
The projects are set to transform the stretch of Tacoma Avenue where a vacant building burned extensively in a July 4, 2021, fire.
The building previously served as the longtime home of Coast House Wrecking and later Next to Nature pet supply.
Fire investigators deemed the blaze suspicious and turned over the case to Tacoma Police.
Wendy Haddow, media representative for TPD, told The News Tribune via email Tuesday that “TFD ruled it incendiary, but fire investigators could not determine origin or cause. Currently this is active pending new leads.”
Winningham told The News Tribune that the investigation does not affect the development plans.
“It was very sad and very tragic that this happened,” he said via email. “We had planned to repurpose many of the lovely timbers in that old building.”
This story was originally published November 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
