Tacoma Avenue Condos at South 25th (14. April 2007, 12:35 by Derek) ~ The Neighborhood is Changing
There’s been a lot of activity in our inbox lately regarding 2367 Tacoma Avenue South – a circa 1968 concrete building that sold for $750k last December. What’s all the excitement about? Condos! Signs with pretty pictures! A little poster sits in the window at South 25th and Tacoma Avenue South announcing the Tacoma Avenue Townhomes.
Details: The commercial building is being converted into two penthouses and six condos with a starting price of $390k. Square footage is around 1500 to 1600 square feet. Here’s the kicker, we’ve been told that the units are already sold out.
Once upon a time listed with Wm. Riley (top photo)
Thank you, Erik, for the photo. Thank you to everybody else that sent emails with details and speculation.
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Tacoma Avenue is an area which Denny Faker gave a report on before the council study session on 4/3/2007 as part of the city’s Community Based Services and Nuisance Abatement. Very interesting. Good listening material as it gives a current and past condition of the area.
He basically explains how he has worked with neighbors, businesses and at least one church on Tacoma Ave in an effort to clean up the area and discusses trying to close drug houses and having some success.
The area is still struggling to get back on its feet and is a high priority for the city. This area has alot of vacant buildings and lots.
Give the brutish 1960s government-building like architecture of the building, I had thought was a teardown. Nice to see a re-use of it.
This is a good location. Only steps from the coffee shop and a few blocks to light rail. There is also a 3 unit townhome project going in on Tacoma Ave on the other side of 25th and of course you have the Galleria.
Also anyone notice the hookers are gone on 25th? I haven’t seen them in a long time. Did they catch the bus out of town or are they not out because of the weather?
Now that is an area that needs some work. I remember that building being a methadone clinic. The hookers were around it all day. I liked that they would get their methadone in the morning, then stick around the area and do some “work” and presumably buy heroin with the proceeds. (I used to work near there.)
3 | Posted by Christine | Apr 14, 03:33 PM
I like conversions like this and for sure it is a good addition to the neighborhood. I like Tacoma Avenue for these sorts of projects (not projects like the Marcato). The area is between the University district and MLK. I believe it makes an ideal residential district, indeed it was the historical use as you can see from all the vacant lots where once single homes stood. I do believe that Tacoma Ave. gives you the best of all worlds and easy access to all. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a neighborhood in transition, but for easy access this is the place to be. Not sure of the pricing on this but it seems to be in line with the rest of the granite counter top/stainless steel appliance projects. for the love of god, please don’t try to hype this like they did the Marcato. “the sounds of a street saxophonist playing sweet jazz as you walk arm and arm with your sweetie as the smell of freshly baking french bread filters through the air”. You are more likely to get the sounds of a drug addict retching and and the stench of urine while you run for your life from the street denizens.
4 | Posted by Crenshaw Sepulveda | Apr 15, 09:29 AM
“the sounds of a street saxophonist playing sweet jazz as you walk arm and arm with your sweetie as the smell of freshly baking french bread filters through the air”. Oh, Please….stop being coy…you know darn well you have fallen for the NewWaveCondoArtUrbanTacomaLiving Vibe…...You can’t clap hard enough for any and all condos/noodlebars/coffeeshops/winebars…..
5 | Posted by Violet Vodka | Apr 15, 01:10 PM
The condos that are getting sold are primarily tax dodges that the buyers are hoping they can flip in a few years. In ten years all of these (usually shoddily built) apartments are going to go back on the market and are going to sit vacant for years to come.
Without attracting major employers that offer high wages the best Tacoma can hope for is an influx of Seattlites willing to pay $400K for an apartment and the joys of a commute 5 days a week so that they can enjoy the exciting nightlife of Tacoma!
This condo orgy is, just like the nationwide housing bubble, fueled by manipulation of market forces (in the Fed’s case it was keeping mortgage rates artificially low – in Tacoma’s it’s the 10 year property tax moritorium). Do they have a plan B or is the bubble just going to pop in ten years?
6 | Posted by beerBoy | Apr 16, 07:00 AM
“The condos that are getting sold are primarily tax dodges that the buyers are hoping they can flip in a few years. In ten years all of these (usually shoddily built) apartments are going to go back on the market and are going to sit vacant for years to come.”
Can you name names or provide any data to support either of these assertions or are you being as speculative as the builders? In which case, by attacking them, you aren’t part of the solution and should be ignored. But if you can provide data to support years of vacancy and shoddy building, do it. The folks I’ve met that have bought in plan on staying a awhile. Or maybe your goal is to have a city with vacant condos, which won’t help anybody – the artists, downtown residents, the city, or anybody else. How are you helping Tacoma by attacking the folks investing in it? Where’s your alternative?
7 | Posted by phillip | Apr 16, 07:19 AM
Howdy Phillip,
I have to say that just because beerBoy is skeptical about the real estate frenzy doesn’t mean that he hates Tacoma and is praying for its destruction. If someone believes that there is a massive asset bubble in real estate then it’s hard to feel optimistic about people paying through the nose to “invest in” the city, because it just exacerbates or at least props up the bubble, making the eventual downside much worse. Tacoma would benefit (or would have benefitted) much more from modest but stable and sustainable growth in prices than a 4 or 5 year flare-up followed by stagnant or declining prices.
I shouldn’t put too many worlds in beerBoy’s mouth, but I will say that I would prefer that the city’s development not be based on a gold rush model.
In the end, I think that we all (or most of us) want many of the same things for Tacoma but the sceptics and the powerful optimists will see different ways to get there.
E.
8 | Posted by Erik S | Apr 16, 08:32 AM
I don’t question the concern about a bubble or prices. Sweeping generalizations about property tax dodging flippers and ‘usually’ shoddy construction isn’t supported by any information I’ve seen or read and doesn’t help any vision of Tacoma. I want this to be a better place. I may not like some (many) of the condo projects. However, I don’t see a benefit in attacking all condos for the sake of attacking condos. I want to see people in those units so that services and commercial space follows.
9 | Posted by phillip | Apr 16, 08:43 AM
Phillip,
Good point. It isn’t fair to villanize the buyers without knowing anything about them other than their decision to purchase a condo. Probably some of them are “flippers”, while many others are not.
Along similar lines, some of the condos may be quite well built. I remain very skeptical on this last point, but I haven’t got any hard evidence to back up my doubts.
But if I am concerned about the possible downsides of irrational exuberance in the market that is because I do care about what happens to the city, not because I’m hoping for downtown to collapse into the Sound. I want to see people moving into the buildings, I just want them to pay sane (or at least less insane) prices, hopefully for non-speculative reasons. And while I can’t really speak for beerBoy, I suspect the same could be said of him.
E.
10 | Posted by Erik S | Apr 16, 09:52 AM
Well, I’m one of those tax dodgers, I guess, that bought a condo downtown last year. I’m very happy with the construction, probably just as good if not better than many new houses being built right now.
And if I end up ‘flipping’ my place in a few years, I’m sure not going to let it stay vacant for years and pay 2 mortgages at once. If the bubble bursts, then oh well, I won’t make as much money off it as I had hoped. But you can be sure, someone will be living there.
11 | Posted by Gorman | Apr 16, 10:00 AM
Howdy Gorman,
Sounds like things worked out fine for you. I am glad to hear that. It seems that Tacoma is lucky that Vulcan isn’t doing most the building:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=196477
And I wouldn’t want to imply that new condos are being build worse than new houses. I believe that quite the opposite is likely true. There’s no way I’d buy one of those tract houses going up out in Puyallup!
E.
12 | Posted by Erik S | Apr 16, 10:04 AM
OK, my sweeping generalizations and hyperbole were just that – sweeping generalizations and hyperbole – I apologize to anyone who was offended.
I just don’t see the wisdom in the City putting so much emphasis in the condo market. Property tax on commercial buildings has skyrocketed while the city is collecting no property tax on condos for 10 years – the City is clearly pushing for condo development while not doing much of anything to support small business development. This is an unbalanced, and in my judgement, short-sighted, unsustainable plan.
Far from wanting to see empty buildings – I am deeply concerned that, once this development boom crests, there will be even more empty buildings.
13 | Posted by beerBoy | Apr 17, 06:42 AM
Um, does this overbuild syndrome look familiar? Anyone remember the office building boom/crash of the 80s…the one with Neil Bush and Silverado S&L …just for starters…beerboy’s fears are well-founded …and why not extend this same tax favoritism to low-income homeowners who fix-up and install low-use-energy systems, and to builders of low-income/middle income housing? Surely benefiting 75% of the people who actually live in Tacoma now,raising our standard of living is more important for long-term stable growth than inviting a bunch of newbies/carpetbaggers in to displace us who have lived here all our lives yet have not received the same type of easy access to making and maintaining wealth…either thru real estate ownership or small business support.(no the Welcome to the Slumtop Neighborhood signs, don’t count)
14 | Posted by Violet Vodka | Apr 17, 09:02 AM
did you guys see this? I am glad the TNT and exit 133 are talking about this. Now how can we get Tacoma to change its parking requirment policies?
http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/oped/?title=crazy_parking_policies&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
15 | Posted by Andrew | Apr 17, 11:52 AM
did you guys see this? I am glad the TNT and exit 133 are talking about this. Now how can we get Tacoma to change its parking requirment policies?
I just saw the blog entry in the TNT.
Nice to see your piece stating the reasons for removing the off-street parking requirement re-printed in the Business Examiner Andre. Looks like more and more people are seeing the light (or at least the best methods for parking policy).
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