Group housing to be built inside historic Tacoma church. Neighbors are not pleased
It’s been a challenging year for a Port Orchard-based developer looking to transform a 116-year-old Tacoma church into shared youth housing, and the renovations haven’t even started yet.
In December 2023 the Warner Street Amici House LLC submitted an application to the city of Tacoma for a conditional-use permit to allow it to convert a Proctor neighborhood church building at 2213 N. Warner St. The initial goal was to remodel the 13,154-square-foot building to house 51 people, predominantly young adults between the ages of 18 and 26.
Last June the city approved the permit with a caveat — occupancy would be limited to 29 residents and one on-site residential advisor. As previously reported by The News Tribune, that set off a chain of appeals, both from Warner Street Amici House LLC and a group of neighbors with North Tacoma Neighbors United, which called on the city to deny the conditional-use permit entirely or reduce the number of residents allowed to six.
In August, Tacoma’s director of Planning and Development Services rejected both group’s appeals and affirmed his original ruling. Both organizations then appealed the case to the city’s hearing examiner, who also upheld the initial ruling in a decision last week.
In his ruling Feb. 5, Jeff Capell denied Warner Street Amici House LLC’s bid to increase occupancy, affirming previous rulings that established limitations based on “[g]enerally applicable health and safety provisions as established by applicable building code or city ordinance.”
Capell also denied three appeals brought by North Tacoma Neighbors United, including allegations that the project failed to comply with city zoning code, failed to meet the standards for a conditional-use permit and that the city failed to consider environmental impacts before approving a conditional-use permit.
As a result of the ruling, building owner Julie Cain told The News Tribune on Monday that Warner Street Amici House LLC would be moving forward to develop the site as group housing with an occupancy of 29 people and a residential director.
Neighbor Tim Pavolka, who spoke with The News Tribune on behalf of North Tacoma Neighbors United, said as of Monday afternoon the group hadn’t decided if it would appeal the ruling again but said the group would be meeting to discuss that option this week. Under law, any requests for reconsideration of a hearing examiner’s position must be filed within 14 calendar days of the issuance, and any court action must commence 21 days after the hearing examiner’s decision.
Renovations begin to breathe new life into church
Cain initially told The News Tribune, and the city in her appeals, that she opposed the 29-person residency cap because it “would render the Project as proposed economically infeasible.” On Monday, Cain called Capell’s ruling “exciting” and one “in our favor.”
“We will have to make architectural changes to the interior. We’ve started that process and are working through how the project works best with 29 residents and a resident director,” Cain said. “We think it worked out great. Our plan was not to start at 50 [occupants]. The 50 number was for a long-term growth [strategy] if it was really popular, and this was really our only time to [address] those limits.”
Initially Cain told The News Tribune she hoped to renovate the building to add 10 bedrooms, with each room to contain three to seven beds. Rent prices were expected to range from $500 to $900 or more a month.
Cain said Monday her initial plans have changed due to the occupancy cap, so the idea now is that there will be mostly two beds to a room, “like a double college dorm room.” She said it’s too early to estimate what she would charge for rent based on design changes, contracting costs and what the market rate of rent will be in summer 2026 when the building is expected to open.
“The model will be the same. We think it will be still very affordable and still a really exciting community. There will be more common space, obviously, for everyone, which will be just fantastic,” she said. “We actually are really excited about the number and how it lays out in the building.”
Phase 1 of the remodel will involve replacing the plumbing, which Cain said will start soon. Other renovations include adding a fitness room, bedrooms, more bathrooms, recreation room, dining area, pantry, laundry facility, common room, library area and quiet room, she said.
Warner Street Amici House LLC will also have to construct a new parking lot for 11 vehicles, add landscaping between the parking lot and North 24th Street, add eight angled parking stalls along North Warner Street, in addition to constructing two new curb ramps and a new sidewalk along North Warner Street, according to the hearing examiner’s decision.
Cain said Warner Street Amici House LLC would not limit the age of who can live there, although she guessed most of the people who would be interested in that type of housing are college students or recent graduates because of the site’s proximity to University of Puget Sound, UW Tacoma and Tacoma Community College.
People of all faiths would be welcome to apply, although Warner Street Amici House LLC will offer Bible study groups and Christian retreats, Cain said.
“We’re excited about … revitalizing and reusing a building that we think is beautiful in a neighborhood that is also beautiful. It’s a building that needs a lot of work inside and all sorts of things have failed in it, right? So we’re excited to make it useful again,” she said. “We are excited to build a community … I think we’re in an epidemic of loneliness, and this is a different way to live.”
Cain acknowledged there have been people in the neighborhood opposed to the project, but she said she has received positive feedback and support.
“I think only positive things about this neighborhood and hope that we are able to be great neighbors and that this project will shine in a positive light,” Cain said. “We think it will be great.”
Neighbors opposed to project ‘not happy’ with decision
Pavolka, who has lived a block and a half from the church building for 36 years, said there are more than 120 neighbors who are part of the North Tacoma Neighbors United group that opposed the project.
“Were we happy with the decision? No, because it’s still too many people,” Pavolka said. “Our biggest concern there is that this is a single-family neighborhood that all of a sudden they’re going to — right in the middle of it — drop 29 people in there. And it’s not necessarily the amount of people, we know that there’s going to be more density where density is. The fact is, it’s the design and the plan that is really the problem.”
Pavolka said he agreed with the hearing examiner that Tacoma needs more housing, but he has concerns about the density and managerial aspects of the project. Pavolka also expressed skepticism that the project will provide truly “affordable” housing as Cain has advertised. He said other neighbors have concerns about traffic, safety, parking and overcrowding, too.
“The only community she’s built is that she’s made the neighbors closer together,” he said. “Everyone understands, our whole neighborhood understands we need more housing, but you don’t ruin neighborhoods that are established to put in group housing.”
Pavolka said he knows of people who have already sold their “forever house” due to concerns about the project and how it might impact their home values.
“We happen to have the organization and the bandwidth to appeal this decision. But what if this thing had gone into a neighborhood where the people didn’t have the organization or the financial bandwidth to appeal the decision?” he said. “We were fortunate that we could group together and give this thing a fight and at least get it knocked down to 29 people. But what if you’re in another neighborhood where they didn’t have that? And that’s basically developers taking chances and taking advantage of the rules in Tacoma.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 5:15 AM.
