The Downtown Development Express is back on track after a rough stop
DAN VOELPEL; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Oops. More than two years ago, I sounded the trumpet to herald the imminent construction of Metropolitan Real Estate Development’s latest gleaming downtown Tacoma contribution: nine stories of mostly condominiums atop a parking garage, grocery store and coffeehouse.
“We just have to pick the exterior materials and we’re ready to go,” Gwen Ingels, co-managing director of operations and finance, told me.
I nicknamed the company, “The M-RED Express” for its aggressive construction portfolio and plans.
Then the Hand of the Economy intervened.
Condominium sales plummeted, a skittish lender backed out, turnover in the City of Tacoma’s permitting office delayed approvals as new hires learned the regulations.
The 1-acre lot at the corner of South 25th Street and Yakima Avenue lay fenced and fallow. Until now.
With some tweaks to the project mix, a revamped construction method, a re-energized lender and all the permits, graders and backhoes have started carving out the hillside.
Thank goodness the corner grocery store and coffeehouse will stay in the mix. Add in a sandwich shop.
But 163 apartments, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, will replace the condominiums. M-RED will use quick-and-easy, prefabricated core and plank materials. The exterior will feature a metal and ironwork pattern that evokes a historic look. The budget has slipped from $42 million to $36 million.
“In this market, you have to build things fast” to pay less interest on the construction loan, said Casey Ingels, co-managing director of M-RED. He expects to finish the project by Oct. 31.
In the frothy days of condo construction from 2005 to 2007, I used to find Ingels, an attorney, in a suit and tie at his Pacific Avenue office. These days, you’ll find him in jeans and sweatshirt at the construction site where he serves as the day-to-day project manager.
“I love it,” Ingels said. “It’s what I used to do, and to get back out there has been a lot of fun. Besides, it’s not a good time to sit in an office trying to put together deals because there aren’t many deals to be made right now.”
Oh, how times have changed.
But one important thing hasn’t changed: M-RED’s penchant for making neighborhoods.
The hillside above the University of Washington Tacoma overlooking downtown and the port industrial area has seen plenty of new townhouses. The blocks around M-RED’s project, officially called The Jackson Building, also includes an old Tacoma Housing Authority apartment complex, but nary an urban service – except at the Christ Life Center Church across the street.
I pulled out my notes from two years ago, to see how Ingels described the project: “Retail is an amenity for the residents here. The ability to walk to this corner from all of the town homes around for groceries. … And on a nice day, it would be nice to walk down and have a cup of coffee. I think it’s sad to have these high-density residential cores with no plans for walking retail. If you want a community downtown, you have to have some amenities to support the residential.”
Does he still believe that? Absolutely.
“We think our project pulls that whole neighborhood together,” Ingels said. “With the retail, it’s not just town homes. Neighborhoods are better when there’s a good mix.”
And best when that mix includes a 10,000-square-foot grocer.
Ingels won’t yet name any of the retailers that have signed letters of intent to take the ground-floor space. But he offers this teaser about the out-of-state grocer: “There’s nothing you can liken it to in this market. It will have a small produce section. … It will definitely anchor that corner. It’s a cool concept.”
As for the apartments, Ingels believes they will appeal to UWT students even though they sit eight blocks from the nearest corner of the campus.
And one other thing hasn’t changed since 2007 – Ingels’ confidence.
“We always perform,” he said. “This is $36 million and 230,000 square feet. What’s the last thing built in Tacoma that was that large?”
Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785
dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com
This is my hood so I am excited to see all the new people and some retail!