Guarded optimism for Tacoma’s Old City Hall 2.0
A long-awaited reboot of Tacoma’s Old City Hall seems closer than ever, now that the City Council has approved a purchase-and-sale agreement with a Puget Sound developer. The council’s unanimous vote last week gives us reason for guarded optimism, though not over-the-moon excitement, that the building’s historic integrity will be restored, right down to its clocks, cornices and copper eaves.
Developer Eli Moreno has been negotiating with city staff over the details of his $15 million Surge Tacoma project since early last fall. What they settled on — two restaurants, retail space on the first two levels, office and co-working space on the next two levels and 40 micro-apartments, half of them priced as affordable housing — would be a delightful contribution to the revival unfolding on the north side of downtown.
Rent-free space for the Tacoma Historical Society and an education program for aspiring young entrepreneurs add a unique element to the deal. They count toward $2 million in public benefits Moreno agreed to provide the city, on top of $2 million in cash.
Former Mayor Bill Baarsma aptly described the plan for Old City Hall as the third leg of a “historical trifecta” for Tacoma, with the first two pieces already well in hand. The restored Union Club mansion at 539 Broadway is operating as a co-working space, while the McMenamins Elks Temple is set to open April 24 as a glamorous brewpub-hotel destination.
Is there enough magic left in the economic development bottle for Old City Hall to get the second act it deserves? We certainly hope so.
Some key milestones to watch for: Moreno’s group is required to complete schematic designs by Sept. 30 this year; secure 100-percent financing by April 30, 2020; and start construction by Aug. 15, 2020. The project is supposed to open by the time revelers ring in the 2022 new year.
That’s an ambitious timeline, and Tacoma residents must be kept fully apprised how the marks are being met. Their patience has been tested already.
In 2015, the city spent $4 million in public money to buy Old City Hall from its neglectful private owner, despite an appraised value of $1.6 million. Then taxpayers watched the property lay fallow while a proposed deal for a second McMenamins venture went nowhere.
Before last week’s vote, Council member Conor McCarthy tempered his enthusiasm for the Surge Tacoma project with a note of caution: “We need to really hold our partners accountable to reach these benchmarks, and if they don’t reach them we need to quickly recalibrate, because I don’t think we can do another three years where nothing happens with this property.”
Amen to that.
The purchase-and-sale agreement was finalized under less than ideal conditions, at the end of a five-hour meeting dominated by debate over the city’s Click cable network. It was nearly 10 p.m., the mayor had all but lost her voice, council members were tired and they didn’t have the full study session that typically precedes decisions of this magnitude.
But a bold vision for one of Tacoma’s great architectural icons now has the council’s official blessing, and we give it ours, too.