Woo-hoo! I think this calls for a celebration!

Well fluff my dog and call me suzy!

Did you hear that? Yes, I believe that was a collective sigh of relief!

So this is One Step Forward for the neighborhood. Lets see if the City Council hands us our Two Steps Back tonight.

Let me toss a bit of relatively unfounded speculation onto this mix. I’ve received several emails from folks asking about McMenamins. Here’s my barely educated analysis. Williams & Dame is a Portland based company. McMenamins is a Portland based company. Elks is a massive project that may not pencil out as a McMenamins style project.

McMenamins is continuing to make investments in Washington State. They just bought the Spar in Olympia. Maybe, if they were only interested in part of the building, they could be (or are) the ‘entertainment’ space section of the project. Condos next door. Office space above or below. Restaurant, bar, and/or lounge space in the grand hall. I think the odds are better with W & D than if it were a more local developer. I could see it… but this is just speculation.

On the other hand, there are other buildings in town that they could find interesting too. That reminds me, I haven’t been to the Olympic Club in a long time.

I’m skeptical, yet gullible, and I needed something to cheer about today, so I’ll cheer this news. Looking up this weekend from Thea’s park at the view including Old City Hall, the NPRR tower, and the Elks’ Lodge (after walking right by them that morning), I was reminded once again what a great jewel it could be. But dang it – I bet it’s just a matter of time before my apartment nearby goes condo.

either way, finally a developer has purchased the building. Hopefully it will be renovated to be the once beauty it was.

Yes. That’s a huge step. There have been all sorts of plans flying around for the Elks, but this is the first one to follow through on the purchase.

In the main hall of the building I’m told there is a huge painting of an arctic explorer fighting off a pack of wolves with a knife. The perfect backdrop for a man’s club designed for smoking cigars and drinking scotch.

Hopfully someone can grab a picture before the place is remodeled.

THANK. GOD.

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for something to come of this building. It is such an eyesore…yet an eyesore full of potential. Hopefully they treat it well.

Just wondering if the adjacent ‘Spanish Steps’ designed by Edward Frere Champney, lead designer of Seattle’s fanciful 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, will be retained. There are countless pictures in Tacoma’s archives staged with the steps as a backdrop. It would be a shame to lose them….

The city owns the Spanish Steps. From what I remember they have money sitting around for rehab of the steps, they were just waiting on the Elks outcome.

can you imagine the 20 story Jay Heights tower being built by Prium up on St. Helens, and just down the street a restored Elks building with a 25 story condo tower right next door? exciting times to be a tacoman

It would certainly help the end of Broadway which has been kind of a bizarre dead zone.

The Elks Building restoration would also be beneficial as it is at the entrance to downtown from Broadway and the first building one sees when they get off of the freeway.

A bit more welcoming.

“McMenamins is continuing to make investments in Washington State. That reminds me, I haven’t been to the Olympic Club in a long time.”

Thanks for the shout out, Derek. When I mention that I live in Centralia, most people (including our Tom Stenger) mention that the last time they were in Centralia, they went to Oly Club and they loved it. Olympic Club has had a major impact on the downtown area and is the bright, revitalized core of the a relatively depressed city. Many out-of-towners seem to identify Centralia simply by the Oly Club. Imagine what an institution of that caliber could do for Tacoma. Granted, Tacoma is much, much larger than Centralia, but an appropriately sized McMenamins project there could have a similar impact on a neighborhood.

Best location in Tacoma for a McMenamin’s? I’m voting for the corner of 56th and South Tacoma Way. Or maybe 15th and Tacoma Ave.

anyone know what architecture firm is doing 505 broadway? cant find it on the website.

Interesting: the first image of the slideshow on Williams & Dane’s web site shows one of their amazing projects and if you are quick to look, it looks like there is a large neon sign that reads “Go by Streetcar.” I would say they “get it!”