I just checked out their website. There is no chance of Hotel Concepts Inc. producing anything architecturally worthwhile. They have a portfolio of run-of-the-mill eye-sore hotel developments. Their work makes me nauseous.

If Silver Cloud Inn could do in in Seattle’s Stadium District I am sure Hotel concepts can do it here.

http://www.seattleboatshow.com/img/web_silvercloud_ex.jpg

The city has really neglected this area significantly. None of the graffiti ordinences have been enforced and the crime rate is high due to some of the residences of the shelter trying to make a buck on victims in the neighborhood. Something architectually worthwhile is needed and not another shameless box. Tacoma needs to stand up for some design standards and not lay over and play dead. They need to address the significant parking issue in this area as well. Currently parking is non existant with the brewery currently boarded up.

I’m not an architect but I know what I like…

And I don’t like that.

Lets tear down some more castle churches for the hospital before we build any more hotels for the highway, ok?

Hotel Concepts Inc???
Is there any more blatant way a company can scream, “We have generic ideas, choose us if you want to spoon feed yourselves into a strip mall utopia!”

Why can’t we just take a little chance and hire, “Lodging Wizardry”, or “Progressatecture”, or “Compelling Buildings for the city of the future”, or “retro-future space shapers”….

are there any other bids on the table?

someone contact the stonemasons, i want to talk to frank russel.

I don’t see much redeeming in the Heidelberg building. The water tower on top is neat, as are the signs, but the rest is a plain industrial building that has 30 years of neglect rotting its core. Not all old industrial buildings make great artist lofts or condos. The hazardous waste issues (lead and asbestos) in this building have to be daunting.

However, a Holiday Inn Express? A relatively ugly one too. My gut feel is there is more here than meets the eye, because I don’t see this as a good business decision. I think we may be seeing something else proposed for this location, which will be welcomed just because it isn’t a Holiday Inn. Are the Sheraton/Murano, Courtyard and the Dome Best Western that full? Maybe they are, I admit I do not know. Downtown can probably support the addition of Hotel Winthrop, but how many people want to stay in downtown Tacoma on a routine basis, not just for occasional shows at the Dome? I just don’t see the market for 160 additional rooms.
The only plus I see is that it isn’t high end that some clamor for, but would never routinely stay in themselves. If you have an overfull house for the holidays and some guests are staying in a hotel, are Uncle Fred and Aunt Sally really going to want to stay in a $200-400/night room at the Murano (assuming their private jet doesn’t land at the Narrows Airport)? Or will they be happy at $70/night on Hosmer? Or $100/night on the edge of downtown?

Time will tell if this is a “bait and switch.” Maybe there are tax benefits to getting the building declared historic?

While I agree with nearly every comment so far, I think some small changes could help this hotel fit into the neighborhood a bit better:

1) Build the building right up to the street on all frontages.

2) Get rid of the porte cochere and replace it with a simple awning.

3) Get rid of the surface parking.

4) Change some of the exterior building materials to red brick or metal cladding to ensure a better fit into the surrounding neighborhood.

5) Name it the Heidelberg Hotel or something of that nature to help evoke memories of the site’s past uses.

Constructive criticism is almost always better than outright rejection. Instead of beating up on the developer, let’s show him or her how some small changes will enable them to build a better project and change their reputation for the better.

I ditto drizzel on this one. Also, we have a re-use of a building in the area being used as a storage facility which doesn’t add much. Good from a historic standpoint I guess but little else.

A hotel would be great in the area by the UWT as long as it isn’t just a stucco box in the middle of a huge parking lot.

Also, must it be orange?

Ugh. Nasssty.

If these hoteliers are concerned about attracting guests, they’re not doing themselves any favors with this design. Drizell’s ideas would help a little. In the end, though, the face of Tacoma as viewed by Travelers on I-5 (who already suffered through Fife or the mall) will be a third-rate McMotel and that condo tower on Pacific. We’re going to have to paint a sign on the Dome promising passers-by that the rest of the city isn’t ugly.

For the brave only: if you don’t like the way the proposal looks now, imagine it 20 or 30 years from now. Good grief.

Here’s a side note: if you have feedback for the LPC regarding this project, please send it to the address now listed at the bottom of the post.

Who would want to stay in a hotel in that area anyway?

I dont’ think location is an issue here. It is actually a great location. It will be located on the south end of one of the most beautiful urban landscapes in the NW. It is next to a growing University. Walking distance to high and mid range restaurants. 2 blocks from the LINK station. Just blocks from Tacoma’s big tourist attractions.

hey here’s an idea….you know the whole U shopping area up by UoW seattle….now that’s the ticket……..all fairly unique retail, some familar ones……that’s the way to go for that area…….and nice…..I don’t recall what they call they place but’s its over by the stadium parking lots….

I agree with all of these comments so far. This drawing shows a clear disregard for the areas current feel. Personally, I much prefer the deserted, unusable, post-industrial look we have going on now in the Brewery District.

This area has the most potential in Tacoma for awesomeness. We need something big and attractive to bring in more development. Frankly this hotel could be it. Tweak the facade a bit – use the UWT if you need an aesthetic model.

Then take all the open courtyards, parking lots, etc in and around the brewery, the super wide streets, old train-track, etc. and make green space. Narrow the streets to create a huge walking district with just enough street width to allow cars to enter the hotel, condo parking garages, etc. Imagine Portland’s Pearl District but with narrow streets, flanked by wide green space, and maybe a street car or light-rail line running through it so people can use transit to get to work downtown or the tacoma dome.

My advice to the LPC: approve this project. Hassle them a bit, get something appropriately gritty and pretty, and then let them build. Once that gets going set some serious and specific district design rules. Boundaries. Maximum street width. Bike lanes. Side walks. Moratorium on PARKING LOTS. Serious mixed-use rules to get retail (that means Pottery Barn), apts, condos, groceries, restaurants, bars, and theaters.

Though – the problem with this is we’ll all be too old to walk around and go drinking in this district. But our grandkids will thank us.

MattMike@26
I like what your sayn. I could see it in my head as I was readin your post. Except im still young enough to see it hopefully and saw it up on the Hilltop. Maybe they should come on up a few more blocks and get some 360 degree views.

What is really a shame is that the owners of this property were allowed to let it sit and decay to the point where it’s demolition by neglect. Just like the Eagles building (gone) and the Luzon (on the edge of being gone).

For some reason we (in the US, in Washington State, in the City of Tacoma) have a perverted interpretation of what property “rights” are. In this view, it is a “right” to screw up the community by keeping properties blighted and vacant.

There are other countries that would take steps to “inspire” such owners to take action or get out. Of course I would get nowhere advocating eminent domain for cases like these, although I wish I could!

What we do need is accountability from slacker property owners. We need the city to enact stronger policies (with swift enforcement) regarding blighted and derelict buildings.

previously on exit133:

Heidelberg Brewery Hotel Rumors Confirmed
Posted on 29. June 2006

A New Hotel in Downtown Tacoma?
Posted on 21. June 2006

(Has it really been that long!?)

What about the artesian springs the building sits on and are piped throughout the complex?

Future spa?

RE: Post 20.

Let’s flood the LPC with comments. It is clear that the LPC members are skeptical about this proposal; let’s show the developer that there are more people out there clamoring for a better design.

If you submit a comment, you will become a Party of Record and will be mailed any future correspondence and materials related to this application.

not only is this totally ugly, but it leaves me confused. i thought the ‘brewery district’ was to be for lofts, artist workshops, shopping and possibly a micro-brewery! i’ve always thought that the brewery district could be such a fun place to live, work and play; however, this eyesore will certainly not make that dream a reality.

cheesy hotels like this are meant to be around airports, not in the center of a city full of buildings with character waiting to be revitalized.

hmmm, has the council really done anything that has really benefited Tacoma and not their pockets….I’m curious how much the mayor and council recieve annually as pay offs….hmmm….and it looks like they want health care now…..what a waste of space in city hall….please, can we get different leadership………..though, I have seen 1 or 2 Holiday inns around the country that could fit into that area…but, it would actually require the mayor and council having a back bone, and not taking the bribes to get something worthy of the area to be built………gee after the fantastic leadership with the Sound transit decision, I’m wondering who is on the board of this developement…hmm..sound transit was Miss ANDERSON…..bla, bla, bla, anyone else think she was paid off for her backing the sound transit decision…..of course she is on their board…..dah…..

Tressie, what is happening is that we in Tacoma are skipping that stage where the arty and young and creative inhabit a neighborhood and create the neighborhood that the developers want to spruce up for the wealthy. Without that stage where the young and creative prepare an area for gentrification you can’t have a functioning neighborhood for the wealthy. Corporations don’t provide reality, it is the energy of our young and creative people that provide reality. Let the young and creative take over a neighborood for a decade and watch what the developers can do with a neighborhood. 3 million dollar “art lofts” anyone so you can live the “arts lifestyle”? Happens all the time.

I don’t know, I still believe that the downtown core area needs to be strong, and not really the “Art” area….hate to say it, but the downtown needs to have wealth, corporations etc……sooooooooooooo, what you guys are talking about is happening, just not really in downtown core because it doesn’t belong really there….but look at 6th, proctor, stadium, etc……those are the places where it is more suitable for the art to take place……we don’t really have a big warehouse area where typically art lofts are located that area was taken over by UoW and already developed………..sooo..what does one do? take over the core of downtown with low rent, art lofts….not!!! remember core, strong……the art that belongs downtown is already there, the art museums, the symphony, etc…..

Rich, I’ve said it before. You need a wooden apple crate to stand on and one of those big cardboard cone-shaped megaphones to shout your message from the corner of 9th & Pacific.

Mofo @46 said:

Rich, I’ve said it before. You need a wooden apple crate to stand on and one of those big cardboard cone-shaped megaphones to shout your message from the corner of 9th & Pacific.

I was thinking Tollefson Plaza would be a great place for public orators. We just need to find someone as splendidly bizarre as the Wizard of New Zealand as the “anchor tenant”. (Just not one of those 3-questions/heaven/hell folks, please.)

I definitely agree a downtown movie theater would bring lots of people out, and they’d spend even more time and money in nearby restaurants/bars/coffee shops/etc.

That should be the next promotional activity for the city and the downtown association, downtown 24/7. The more legitimate activity we have downtown during all of the hours, the safer it will be.

Patience, rich. Even the cities we dream about didn’t happen overnight. They took decades to become what they are today. Portland is no different. Best is to develop a vision of what you want Tacoma to look like in the future and work toward making it a reality.