From dangerous street to new apartments in Tacoma. First units to debut this month
A development group that’s working to turn former budget lodging sites into affordable apartments is about to unveil its first completed project in Tacoma’s South End.
South Hosmer Street last year became infamous for its high rate of crime, much of it stemming from the strip of budget hotels/motels that dot the landscape along Interstate 5.
Sage Investment Group, with offices in Kirkland and Richland, started purchasing South Hosmer Street lodging properties through affiliated LLCs in 2022, with the following sales recorded by Pierce County:
▪ March 2022: Econo Lodge Tacoma Mall, 8820 S. Hosmer St. Building B, $8.7 million, 109 units.
▪ January 2023: Travelodge/American Lodge site, 8702 S. Hosmer St., $11.5 million, 142 units.
▪ July 2023: Hotel Thea, 7414 S. Hosmer St., $13.99 million, 134 units.
Two more properties, according to Sage co-founder Emily Hubbard, are under contract and expected to close by the end of this year: HomeTown Studios, 8801 S. Hosmer St., and Motel 6, 1811 S. 76th St. The News Tribune reported Sage’s initial plans for the Motel 6 site in October 2022.
HomeTowne’s issues were reported by The News Tribune last year as part of a series focused on South Hosmer Street. Coverage then included an employee who felt it necessary to carry two “sharpened hatchets” to protect herself working there.
“We’re super excited about HomeTowne ... because we really think that’s going to really turn the tide with the crime,” Hubbard told The News Tribune this week, describing it as the “last pocket” of serious drug/criminal activity.
Though Sage’s Hosmer work is extensive, the group has taken on projects elsewhere, Hubbard noted, including in Fife (Pinnacle Apartments, 3501 Pacific Highway E.), Olympia (the former Olympia Hotel at Capitol Lake) and in other states.
Sage typically purchases properties, upgrades and modernizes, keeps them for awhile (managed through a separate entity) and eventually sells after about 3-5 years.
“A lot of times we see housing authorities as our biggest buyers,” she said. “They like that we come in and buy a big chunk on a whole block. And then they come in and buy the whole thing ... and they use them to be able to provide more housing for communities.”
Another Hosmer site set to debut in tandem with Safe Harbor is Cascade Ridge is the former Travelodge/American Lodge site.
“They both turned out beautiful. We did white quartz counter tops, white Shaker cabinets. It looks just super fresh and clean. I was really excited about how the design came together,” Hubbard said.
She discussed what a difference a year has made in reducing crime on Hosmer just by taking control of the properties, particularly the Econo Lodge, where two homicides took place in 2022 — one occurring not long after the investment group had purchased the site.
“It’s been really, really amazing to watch it, not as quickly as we had hoped it was going to happen,” she said speaking of the transformation into Safe Harbor Apartments. “But, when you can reduce homicide by 100% in 18 months, I will take that.”
City data collected from four blocks on South Hosmer Street appear to confirm what Hubbard herself has noticed.
Figures from City of Tacoma’s Open Data portal show total reported crimes from 2018 through Oct. 1, 2023 in the four blocks that had been among the most active (8400, 8600, 8700 and 8800), each showing reductions from 2022. In the 8800 block, the Safe Harbor (former Econo Lodge) area showed a reduction of more than half from 2022. The totals are based on the number of distinct offense descriptions per incident. For example, if someone committed two different crimes within one incident, each offense is counted under its distinct description.
Safe Harbor is set to be finished “in the next two weeks,” Hubbard said, with a free, grand opening celebration open to the public Oct. 28 (details below).
Hubbard estimates by the time they are finished buying up and remodeling the five sites, they will own “over 600 units on Hosmer Street.”
“We’re really taking a swing at helping bring more attainable housing to Tacoma,” she said.
She defined “attainable” as “targeting that missing middle, which is in desperate need of housing,” she said. Rents will be “inclusive of all amenities, so that means utilities, cable, internet,” among other specific site amenities depending on the location.
Other amenities include a private dog park and secured parking. Hotel Thea, which will become Thea Apartments, will have a miniature golf course, while Safe Harbor will have an arcade. Plans for the Olympia project include indoor pickle ball courts “because it had all this conference space,” she said.
Rents for smaller units will start around $1,250, while larger fully furnished units, such as Thea Apartments, will run approximately $1,600, with the range subject to change as construction moves forward.
As for the Hosmer units, “I would really recommend people go and see for themselves; the feel of the street is so much better,” Hubbard said, noting the developers are even considering hosting a farmers market at some point in the future.
“I would just love for people to give it a second chance, and to see what the community has been able to do,” she said.
Sandra Ford is a resident in the Charlotte’s Blueberry Park area, a few blocks east of South Hosmer Street, and is active with Blueberry Park Safe Streets program. She told The News Tribune on Friday in response to questions that she was excited for the new apartments and is set to attend its opening event later this month.
“I think it’s a fantastic idea,” she told The News Tribune. “My hope is, the new apartments are affordable and give some folks a safe place to live.”
“Seeing is believing,” she added.
More information on renting at Safe Harbor Apartments will be available in the next few weeks at rentwithsage.com
Safe Harbor Trunk or Treat
Sage Investment Group is hosting a “Trunk or Treat” Halloween celebration from 3 to 6 p.m. Oct. 28 as part of the grand opening celebration for Safe Harbor Apartments, 8820 S. Hosmer St.
The family-friendly event will include games, treats and more, including a pet Halloween costume contest.
The event, free to the public, is sponsored by Sage along with the South End Neighborhood Council, Hosmer Business Association, Tacoma Police Department, FOB Hope, Lifting Spirits with Helping Hands, Blueberry Park Safe Streets, the City of Tacoma’s Community’s Police Advisory Committee, Pierce Transit, Fred Meyer of South 72nd Street and Food is Free Tacoma, according to Sage Investment’s event flyer.
Representatives from Sage Investment Group, Tacoma Police Department and others will be on site.
This story was originally published October 10, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
