Another Hosmer Street hotel is set to get makeover for apartments. Here are the details
A site that formerly made headlines as crime took a heavy toll on a street in Tacoma’s South End has sold.
HomeTowne Studios Tacoma, 8801 S. Hosmer St., sold Jan. 25 for $11 million to an LLC affiliated with Sage Investment Group, which has offices in Kirkland and Richland.
The seller, DW CL IV LLC affiliated with Westmont Hospitality Group of Houston, purchased the site in 2015 for $12.95 million.
HomeTowne’s struggles were reported by The News Tribune in 2022 as part of a series focused on crime at South Hosmer Street.
Last fall, Sage co-founder Emily Hubbard told The News Tribune that HomeTowne was one of two sites Sage planned to acquire, describing it as the “last pocket” of serious criminal activity.
The second site, Motel 6, is no longer part of their acquisition plans, she told The News Tribune on Thursday.
Four blocks on South Hosmer Street that had been among the most active (8400, 8600, 8700 and 8800) have experienced a downward trend of reported crimes since 2022, according to city data.
Since 2022, Sage has purchased several former lodging properties along Hosmer Street for apartment conversions. Those sites include the former Econo Lodge/Quality Inn site, 8820 S. Hosmer St. Building B and the Travelodge/American Lodge site, 8702 S. Hosmer St.
Last summer the investment group purchased the Hotel Thea at 7414 S. Hosmer St.
Sage has since introduced Safe Harbor Apartments at the former Econo Lodge/Quality Inn site, and Cascade Ridge Apartments at the former Travelodge/American Lodge site.
The Hosmer sites acquired by Sage are set to add hundreds of affordable housing units in the area. Safe Harbor’s rents for studio units start at $1,125, while studio units at Cascade Ridge start at $1,225, according to their online listings.
Hubbard last year told The News Tribune that rents would be “inclusive of all amenities, so that means utilities, cable, internet,” among other amenities depending on the location.
HomeTowne, built in 1999, has 128 units, according to county records.
“Sage Investment Group hopes that redevelopment work on the HomeTowne Studios property will be completed by November 2024,” Hubbard told The News Tribune via email Thursday.
She added that Sage “is also accepting new tenant applications for Safe Harbor,” which is across from HomeTowne Studios.
Applications can be submitted at www.safeharbortacoma.com
The News Tribune archives contributed to this report.
