The Biz Buzz » Construction

Foss Hotel could break ground within a month

John Gillie — Mon, 06 May 2013 22:57:26 +0000

We’ve sounded the drum roll before for this event only to have opponents’ court action force cancellation of the ceremony.

But here goes nonetheless:

Groundbreaking for the long-awaited hotel on downtown Tacoma’s Foss Waterway could happen within the next month, according to the hotel’s architect.

Dave Murphy, the Seattle architect who designed the 104-room Marriott Residence Inn for Bellingham’s Hollander Investments, said he expects the City of Tacoma will issue grading and excavation permits this month for the structure.

Work on the site between the Esplanade Condominiums and Thea’s Landing Apartments on Dock Street could begin shortly thereafter.

Construction could …

Tacoma McMenamins is the topic of lunch panel in two weeks

Kathleen Cooper — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:00:44 +0000

Perhaps, dear readers, we might learn a few more details about the McMenamins’ plans for the Tacoma Elks Temple after a luncheon in two weeks.

Commercial Real Estate Women Seattle & Sound are hosting a lunch panel May 14 at the Hotel Murano, 1320 Broadway, that promises “more exciting details” about the construction.

The group’s news release says construction is scheduled to begin later this year, though a time frame for that has been squishy for awhile. Representatives of the Portland-based brewpub picked up construction permits from the City of Tacoma in February, but work hasn’t begun yet. The …

Artist live/work space possibilities in Tacoma (Brewery District cough cough) up for discussion next week

Kathleen Cooper — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:05:29 +0000

A national nonprofit known for developing buildings into live/work studios for artists is on its way to Tacoma, planning to study whether it could happen here.

Artspace will do a feasibility study May 9 and 10, and there’s a community meeting May 9 at 7 p.m. to meet Artspace representatives and share ideas.

My colleague Rosemary Ponnekanti wrote more about this over at GO Arts:

What’s Artspace? If you’ve wandered around Seattle’s Pioneer Square, you’ll have seen their most famous Seattle development in the Tashiro Kaplan lofts. One of the driving forces behind the historic area’s renaissance in

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Revival of housing market drives Weyerhaeuser profits higher

John Gillie — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:14:22 +0000

Federal Way’s Weyerhaeuser Co. rode the reviving housing business to sharply higher profits in the first quarter, the highest quarterly earnings since 2005, the company said today.

The results even surprised Wall Street, which had recently revised its own estimates higher to account for the increasing activity in the housing market. The company reported net earnings of $144 million or 26 cents a share for the quarter ending in March.

A recent average of Wall Street analysts’ predictions called for the timber and wood products company to report a profit of 22 cents a share in the first quarter.

This …

Update on Tehaleh (formerly known as Cascadia): Almost 100 homes sold

Kathleen Cooper — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:30:40 +0000

Buried in my inbox is a note sent in early April from Liv Faris, who does public relations for the massive planned community in East Pierce County called Tehaleh.

Called Cascadia for two decades, Newland Communities bought it, renamed it and opened it for business in September.

Jay Bradley opens his orange door

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Good news or bad? Boeing withdraws application for big new Everett office building

John Gillie — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:41:31 +0000

Boeing has withdrawn its building permit application to construct a big new office building adjacent to its Everett wide-body aircraft production plant.

The company had planned to construct the 650,000-square-foot building to consolidate and expand offices in the vicinity of its plant. The company didn’t say why it had withdrawn those plans.

Does the permit withdrawal represent another step in Boeing’s plans to disperse its facilities beyond Everett or does it mean the company wants to use the site to build an addition to its Everett production facilities?

In recent months, Boeing has made new commitments to its North Charleston, …

Interested in real estate development in downtown Tacoma? Come to the mayor’s Monday Mixer

Kathleen Cooper — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:48:39 +0000

It’s time again for the Monday Mixer, a quarterly meeting in downtown Tacoma meant for developers, investors, property owners, brokers and other real estate professionals.

Hosted by Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, the fourth such meeting will be held April 29 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Hotel Murano, 1320 Broadway.

The Hotel Murano in Tacoma, 1320 Broadway. Photo by Peter Haley, staff photographer

“This is about coming together to take a closer look at

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Tacoma developers propose 161-unit mixed use building on the Thea Foss Waterway

John Gillie — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 04:34:56 +0000

Five years after development went into limbo, developers are returning to Tacoma’s Thea Foss Waterway.

Now a development alliance calling itself the Henry Group is proposing to build a $31.2 million apartment and retail project just north of the Highway 509 bridge across the waterway.

The group is the same one that 10 years ago built the waterway’s first major residential building, Thea’s Landing.

The new proposal, tentatively approved Wednesday night by the Thea Foss Waterway Development Authority, would create a six-story, 161-apartment building on Dock Street next to Albers Mill.

The authority authorized its director, Su Dowie, to negotiate …

Major master-planning effort for 600 acres of downtown Tacoma is ready for your review

Kathleen Cooper — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 21:42:40 +0000

A master-planning process that began in the fall of 2011 has produced a deep look at downtown Tacoma’s Brewery and Dome districts, full of ideas for the way it should develop during the next several decades to accommodate major population growth.

It’s your turn to comment.

It’s important that you do. Part of the plan includes an area-wide environmental impact statement, which, if ultimately approved, will allow commercial real estate developers to skip individual environmental review on their project. The idea is to encourage development by helping investors save money while still ensuring the development fits in with the …

Good news from the FDIC – construction permits are up while bad loans fall at state banks

C.R. Roberts — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:10:29 +0000

Builders are building again and loan quality has improved at Washington banks, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported Monday.

The federal bank regulator said in its monthly report that statewide single-family home permits were up mightily in the fourth quarter, increasing 47.5 percent from the figure reported in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Multi-family building permits increased 53.6 percent, while the home-price index rose 0.6 percent.

Within 71 state banking institutions, total assets rose were $63.8 billion, up from $62.6 billion in the previous quarter and up from $63.5 billion the year before.

Asset quality improved at state banks, the …