Another Tacoma motel plans to convert to apartments. It is part of a nationwide trend
The Motel 6 in Tacoma’s South End is the latest in the South Hosmer Street area with plans to convert its rooms to apartments, according to plans filed this month with the city of Tacoma.
The conversion of the two-story, 119-unit site at 1811 S. 76th St. is estimated to cost just under $1 million. The project could start as soon as this month, according to the permit filing.
An example of the interior remodel design can be seen online.
The motel was built in the 1980s, with its last significant remodel in 2016, according to online records.
County records show the property has had three different owners since 1999.
The property last sold in July 2021 for $5.8 million to a Sacramento-based investor, and another owner is on tap to take over soon.
Developer Emily Hubbard with Sage Investments of Kirkland and Richland, told The News Tribune on Friday that Sage expects to complete its purchase in the next few weeks.
The conversion follows a trend in the Hosmer Street area.
The News Tribune reported in August that five former motels on South Hosmer Street have been sold since June of last year. Each is poised to transition into affordable housing as owners have struggled with crime on site and in the immediate vicinity.
“We already own the Econo Lodge, which has had some challenges,” Hubbard noted.
She says the area is slowly improving as they work to convert that property, 8820 S. Hosmer St.
“It’s changed so much. The crime in that property is dramatically reduced in the last month and a half as we finally have gotten everything kind of figured out,” Hubbard said. “And we’ve started remodeling and painting, and it looks completely different, which is so exciting.”
The Tacoma site isn’t the only Motel 6 property Sage is involved with.
“We’ll also be closing on another property in Centralia that’s a Motel 6, with a different owner,” she added.
Sage also is working on two hotel conversions in Fife: the former Travelodge at 3516 Pacific Highway E. and the Port of Tacoma Inn, 3501 Pacific Highway E.
Rents at the former Tacoma Motel 6 site will range from $900-$1,200, “depending on the size of the unit,” she said.
As for the interior conversion, “We do white shaker cabinets, quartz countertops, full appliances and stainless steel. And there’s a little quarter room divider for our studios to make it feel like there’s a bedroom.”
The property will be fenced off with restricted access.
“We run it off of an app so that way, as cars come and go, they have to be able to be approved by their guests, or they have to be approved guests or residents,” she said.
She noted that motel conversions are a good way to keep new housing coming at a time when lenders are skittish about construction loans amid economic uncertainty and a potential recession on the horizon.
Such conversions can take up to 18 months once they gain ownership of a site, she noted, with construction taking between six-12 months..
“I just hope that everyone kind of keeps the faith and knows that our goal is to turn it around,” she said.
Other sites converting to apartments
Many former budget brand hotel-motel properties nationwide are making the switch to apartments to help address the shortage of affordable housing, with Motel 6 among them.
The owner of a former Motel 6 property in Ellensburg, Oregon, in September announced that site’s conversion to apartments. The state of California in April awarded $10.8 million to convert a Motel 6 property in Costa Mesa to permanent supportive housing.
It’s not always motels that have seen better years making the switch.
Locally, at least one site of newly built apartments is now switching to “deeply affordable” units.
Earlier this month, plans were announced that the Low Income Housing Institute of Seattle would buy the Heron Apartments, 1624 E. 32nd St. in Tacoma, to offer supportive and workforce housing.
LIHI last year acquired the former Comfort Inn, 8620 S. Hosmer St., now Aspen Court, providing bridge housing for homeless singles and couples.
