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FREE s Friday, June 14, 2013

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Y TACOMAWEEKL.com YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER - 26 YEARS OF SERVICE

RECENT DEVELOPMENT DEALS MIGHT MEAN DOWNTOWN IS ON THE MEND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WORKS

By Steve Dunkelberger stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

PHOTO BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER

HAMMER TIME. Construction workers are no longer rare sights

around Tacoma’s downtown with a host of development deals hinting that the local economy is improving.

GOODWILL OPENS STATE-OFTHE-ART STORE

A week doesn’t go by these days without a developer or agency announcing plans on some new building, facility renovation or expansion, news that suggests Tacoma’s economy is on the mend. “Tacoma is on the move,” said Tacoma’s Economic Development Director Ricardo Nogu-

LESSEES EYE WAREHOUSE SPACES

era. “The announcement of State Farm’s arrival to Tacoma is drawing investment interest from near and far. We have institutional and local investment interests in Tacoma … The writing is on the wall. Tacoma is the place to invest, and we represent a clear alternative to developers, businesses and home seekers for a more affordable, safer, familyoriented, good night life and recreationally-oriented environ-

ment to live, work and play.” Developments in the works include a San Diego-based investment firm purchasing two multi-family developments in downtown; Carion Bros. launching a 161-unit, rental project along the Foss waterway called The Henry; John Wise, developer of The Metropolitan, set to break ground on 252 Broadway, a multi-family project, Noguera X See PROJECTS / page A4

WHAT’S RIGHT WITH TACOMA

PHOTO BY KATE BURROWS

NOW OPEN. Pictured from

left to right, chairman of the board of Tacoma Goodwill Chad Wright, Tacoma City Councilman Joe Lonergan, Tacoma Goodwill President and CEO Terry Hayes, Store Manager Gloria Eubanks and Tacoma/Pierce County Chamber President and CEO Tom Pierson all gathered June 6 to celebrate the grand opening of the newest Goodwill location. By Kate Burrows kburrows@tacomaweekly.com

The opening of a new Goodwill store in South Tacoma means more than the addition of 25 to 30 new jobs – it means the organization’s job training and support services will reach even more people in need. A grand opening ceremony took place June 6, and the community came out in droves to experience what Tacoma Goodwill President and CEO Terry Hayes calls its latest “fashion-forward” store. The store is focused more on creating a memorable shopping experience, offering high-end displays and well organized merchandise designed to feel like a department store, rather than a thrift shop. She stresses that customers will find the same low prices they have come to expect from traditional Goodwill locations. “It doesn’t have to be expensive to create a wonderful shopping experience,” she said, adding that employees are well X See GOODWILL / page A4

RENDERING COURTESY OF MDC

NEW ROLE FOR THE OLD BAYWATCH. MDC (formerly Metropolitan Development Council and now Making a Difference

in Community) is investing $4.1 million in restoring the building, which will reopen as secure housing with medical and social services for people who had been homeless with disabilities.

MDC TO RENOVATE BLIGHTED BUILDING –

AND SAVE BLIGHTED LIVES

By Kathleen Merryman

T

he Baywatch Apartments, infamous for blight and crime as they declined over the past decades at 502 S. Seventh St., are bound for restoration. MDC (formerly Metropolitan Development Council and now Making a Difference in Community) has bought the once-lovely brick building and, in September, will reopen it as secure housing, with services, for people escaping longterm homelessness. The 35 units will represent one more step forward in the county’s battle to end homelessness. Over the past decade the people waging that fight have cut the numbers of people living in encampments and cars. Over the past eight years, the county-wide Point In Time Count shows the number of people living unsheltered dropped from 727 to 126. The numbers are never complete in any year, but the 84 percent drop represents a trend in the right direction.

That social services have accomplished so much, even as the faltering economy has spit more people out of their homes, might be mistaken for a miracle. It is, instead, accountability. Leading members of the Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness are strict. They study the data on how well programs work. They use those numbers to see what changes need to be made, and to guide funding. They have learned that, for the most broken souls, housing is not enough. People who have been living on the streets or in shelters for years need the housing first, then mental health, medical, counseling, education and job skills services as they are ready to accept them. The Baywatch will be for them, and it will be renamed The Randall Townsend Apartments for one of them. Townsend,

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DEATH RACER: Tacoma man will push himself to the limit. PAGE A6

Done well, the kind of housing MDC plans saves money. Analyses of projects like it in Seattle, Portland, even Minnesota, prove it over and over again.

City Briefs ................A3 Pothole Pig ...............A3

Laramie examined B3

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a U.S. Navy veteran, was beaten to death after he landed on the streets because of mental illness. Programs like this have saved people like Townsend all across the nation. “This is based on national best practices,” said MDC’s Troy Christensen, chief of operations and strategy. “MDC will be the first to use it in Tacoma.” But the model itself has caused concern in the neighborhood. After MDC purchased the building, word spread that it would be running “wet housing” (meaning that residents can drink alcohol in their apartments). That term alarmed people who have invested in nearby homes and businesses, and with good reason. Tacoma’s history of homeless services has had its low points. On a Facebook conversation, some people worried about X See HOUSING / page A4

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Make A Scene ........ B5 Calendar ................. B6

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