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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
Vol. CXXIV, No. 18
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF TACOMA Devoted to the Courts, Real Estate, Finance, Industrial Activities, and Publication of Legal Notices
Published Published Since Since 1890 1890
Winthrop Hotel
A glimpse inside the penthouse suite, Crystal Ballroom Posted online Tues., Jan. 27 Article By Todd Matthews, Editor Photos Courtesy City of Tacoma Landmarks Preservation Commission / Tonkin Architecture The former Winthrop Hotel in downtown Tacoma is hard to miss. The 12-story, 90-year-old brick building with terra cotta trim and sprawling, top-floor balconies towers over the corner of South 9th and Commerce Streets. But the former grand hotel has seen better days. It was converted to apartment housing for seniors 40 years ago, and currently offers nearly 200 apartment homes that serve residents in need of low-income and affordable housing. In recent years, developers have circled the building trying to figure out how to return to the building to its former glory as a first-class hotel. Meanwhile, the building suffered from decades of neglect and deferred maintenance. Tacoma-based Prium Companies purchased the building in 2007. Three years later, however, it was back on the market after the company's co-founders declared bankruptcy. Burlingame, Calif.-based Redwood Housing Partners purchased the property last year. This week, Tacoma's Landmarks Preservation Commission is scheduled to be briefed on plans to address deferred maintenance inside the old building (see "Tacoma Landmarks Commission briefing planned for historic Winthrop Hotel," Tacoma Daily Index, Jan. 23, 2015). Seattle-based Tonkin Architecture was hired by the building owner to complete a property condition assessment report. The 46-page document sheds some light on the current condition of the building, as well as plans to address and repair some of the damage. The report will probably pique the interests of anyone who wants to peek inside two areas of the building typically off-limits to the general public — the penthouse suite and the Crystal Ballroom. Regarding the penthouse suite (pictured), the report notes (in part) the following: The exterior of the eleventh-floor penthouse is sheathed in tan brick and has some large arched winCONTINUED dows that remain intact, but ON PAGE 2
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