Potential brewing in downtown

The area south of the University of Washington-Tacoma (UWT) campus has been waiting its turn to participate in the ongoing renaissance of downtown.

In recent years it has been dubbed the Brewery District after its most notable structure, the former Heidelberg Brewery on South ‘C’ Street. It was owned by several brewing companies in its time, which made numerous brands of beer until it closed in 1979.

Since then sections of the building have been used as warehouse space, a tire recapping plant and an ill-fated ethanol production venture. In the early 1990s part of the building was remodeled for practice pads for rock bands. Much of it was destroyed by an arson fire in the mid-1990s.

In 2007 its owner applied for a permit to demolish much of it to clear the way for a proposed Holiday Inn. Like many development ideas proposed downtown recently, that project is on hold as a result of the economic downturn.

Beckwith Consulting along with VIA Architecture, a firm that has been studying various issues related to downtown planning, began working on a development concept study for the district this month. Employees of the firms will meet with city staff, historic preservationists, artists and other stakeholders in crafting a vision for the Brewery District.

The city is a major property owner in the neighborhood. The Public Works Department has some of its operations in buildings between South 23rd and 25th streets. The city owns 6.5 acres bounded by South 21st and 23rd streets and Tacoma and Jefferson avenues, land purchased in the 1990s to be home for a future police headquarters. The city later changed its plans, building the headquarters on Pine Street. The large parcel of valuable real estate affects everything around it. Hopefully the study will motivate the city to determine what it will do with the land. Some developers are hesitant to pursue proposals on nearby parcels without knowing the future of the city’s parcel.

The city has identified several industries that should be nurtured and promoted as part of a larger economic development effort. One such sector is creative arts and design. The Brewery District is considered an ideal location for this due to its many historic buildings that seem to be favored by creative entrepreneurs, as well as its proximity to UWT and nearby museums and galleries.

At one point this district was identified as a site for a year-round farmers market, another use the study should examine in further detail.

Aging infrastructure is a potential barrier to development in the Brewery District. A similar situation existed at the other end of downtown, which is now being addressed through the Broadway local improvement district, a two-year series of improvements funded by property owners.

Affordable housing could have a place in the neighborhood’s future. The city has been examining its policies on such housing downtown, where most of the new housing has been condominiums or high-rent apartments. With its industrial background, the Brewery District could be better suited for basic accommodations for people of more modest means than some of the other sections of downtown.

Countless plans and studies have been conducted on downtown in the past 20 years. Some have led to real progress; many have sat on a shelf and gathered dust. This current study needs to fall into the former category. The city should use the momentum generated by it to take a more active role in marketing the Brewery District to developers. For too long the area has served as a buffer zone between downtown and the Dome District. A new vision is needed for it to reach its potential.

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