Developer plans 300 apartments in Dome District. Indoor climbing business to make way

A project that has been long-planned as a second Tacoma apartment site for a Seattle developer took another step forward this month.

Arbutus House LLC, representing Great Expectations in Seattle, purchased three Tacoma Dome District-area parcels encompassing 109 S. 25th St and 102 S. 24th St. The latter is the current site of Climb Tacoma, an indoor climbing facility.

The Arbutus House apartments rendering shows the new construction replacing the industrial buildings on the half block.

Plans filed with the city in February call for an eight-story building with 300 residential units and 147 parking stalls and more than 3,000 square feet of retail, with the company touting its prime location to transit.

The building permit application listed a tentative start date of February 2025 and a project valuation of $45 million.

“Arbutus is in the best connected location in the state, steps away from commuter rail (Sounder), light rail and bus rapid transit,” its promotion reads on its website, similar to its promotions of its other Tacoma site already in progress.

The company, which focuses on the development of affordable workforce housing, has touted Arbutus for years along with nearby Cornus House transit-oriented development in progress at 2502 Pacific Ave., an eight-story, 199-unit project, with six parking stalls and three retail spaces.

Multiple efforts by The News Tribune to reach Great Expectations representatives were unsuccessful.

The sale for the Arbutus project was recorded March 13, and the purchase price was just over $2.4 million, sold by a limited partnership representing American Life, an EB-5 real estate investment firm in Seattle, according to county records.

American Life, through its representative LP, purchased the parcels along with the Foremost Dairies building, 2413 Pacific Ave., (not part of the recent sale) in 2010 for $4.25 million.

The site is on the same block as Tacoma Flats microunits, (former Merkle Hotel) completed in 2020 by Old City Hall redeveloper and Surge Coworking CEO Eli Moreno.

Great Expectations founder Ben Maritz and Great Expectations last made news in Tacoma in September 2022 via Cornus House after facing higher interest rates in the development process.

Cornus House switched from a 12-year multifamily property tax exemption for that project, which sets aside 20 percent of units as rent restricted, to an all-market rate 8-year version.

“We really had no choice,” Maritz told The News Tribune at the time. “If we hadn’t gotten that, we would not have been able to build this product at that financing package. And we would have had to put (the project) on hold until the economic cycle turns.”

His concerns for the project in 2022 were not necessarily unwarranted.

The same day his company closed on acquiring the Arbutus property, The News Tribune reported on another construction pause nearby at another transit-oriented development: the unfinished Tacoma Trax apartment project at 415 E. 25th St.

That project ground to a halt at the end of 2022 and was foreclosed on by its lender last year, who is still considering next steps after construction briefly resumed to keep the permits active.

In contrast, Cornus House keeps plugging along, according to a January update on its website. The company at that time stated, “The supply chain and escalation budget concerns in 2022 when the GMP (guaranted maximum price) was executed have largely been avoided.”

It added, “We entered a market in the middle of ‘23 and into ‘24 where the vendors/subcontractors are hungry for work, and the 20% markups have all but disappeared.”

Great Expectations’ website shows an anticipated December 2024 completion date for that project.

Arbutus House

As for Arbutus House, the company offered its most extensive details to date in an August 2023 post on its website.

“The unit sizes will be larger than our traditional Seattle eco-apartments but still very efficient” the company’s post stated, with 485 square feet as the overall average for units.

The buildiing’s “E” shape” allows natural light into two different courtyards, and the podium provides prominent street presence,” it added.

“We are confident in the success of this product type, with thoughtful unit design/functionality, and market-rate finishes at below market rents.” No suggested rents have been posted by the company.

The company stated its planned land acquisition, which occurred in March, “with vertical construction about a year after.”

According to Linda Robson, a media representative for the City of Tacoma, the plan submitted by the developer calls for demolishing both the building housing Climb Tacoma (102 S. 24th St.) and the Crawl Pros building (109 S. 25th St.)

“The developer has initiated the permitting process for the Arbutus project, though the full permit package is still pending,” she added in an emailed response to questions Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, “no demolition permit applications have been submitted,” Robson wrote.

“We are not aware of any reclamation or architectural salvage efforts for this site at this time, beyond the fact that a cultural resource review will be required as part of any demolition or development permitting process,” Robson noted.

What’s next for business

The building that is home to Climb Tacoma also is known as the Fairweather Building and first opened in 1924, according to Historic Tacoma, a nonprofit organization.

It was home first to National Service Station. Other businesses through the years included Erickson Tire Co. and Robinson Machinery & Supply, according to the organization.

Climb Tacoma noted in a Facebook post in November that it would “have the honor of being the final tenant before it’s gone forever.”

The business is in the process of moving operations to its new home, 3729 S. Lawrence St., just off South 38th Street and across from Griot’s Garage.

An update on Climb Tacoma’s website dated March 22 noted, “Wall construction is very close to being completed,” at the Lawrence Street site and that flooring materials were expected to arrive soon.

Brian Doyle, the owner of Climb Tacoma, told The News Tribune via email Monday evening, “We have been aware of the potential sale of our building for a couple years now. The new owners have only recently shared their plans for our building with us.”

Doyle added, “We were told they’d be demolishing our building this year, seems their plans have changed. Our plans haven’t.”

As the apartment development plays out in terms of permitting, financing and timing, Doyle’s focused on Climb Tacoma’s future.

“I hope to have us moved in May. “