McMenamins is coming to Tacoma

I attended the CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) meeting in Tacoma, WA this past week. A great luncheon event at the Hotel Murano in downtown Tacoma.

Oregon-based McMenamins is bringing their unique business model of restoring historic buildings in the Pacific Northwest like the 100 year old Elks Hall in old downtown Tacoma into a brewery, 45 guestrooms, a space for live music, three restaurants, and a ballroom.

George Signorie, Senior Associate at Ankrom Moisan Architects in Portland gave a great (and quite funny) presentation about the makeover. George has been working with the McMenamins for about 10 years now helping them to breath new life into mostly dormant urban neighborhoods  through renovation and re-imaging landmarks.

Tacoma, the City of Destiny since 1873 when it became the Northern Pacific Railroad’s western terminus, has had its share boom and bust and ups and downs. Just before our recent “great recession” downtown Tacoma was realizing a renaissance. Yet the financial crash and its adverse affect on real estate in the South Sound it totally stalled.

McMenamins interest in choosing downtown Tacoma as a redevelopment site is not only welcome but an encouraging sign of a long awaited recovery and enhances the value and faith in a wonderful community like Tacoma.

As one who travels throughout the Northwest, I’ve enjoyed many of McMenamins locations in Portland, Roseburg, and Vancouver. One of my favorite events a few years ago was a Tech Fair held at the Kennedy School McMenamins in East Portland where I gave a talk on social media marketing.

The Elks Temple was designed in the second Renaissance Revival style by Edward Frere Champney, a graduate of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts who made his reputation designing many of the buildings for the Seattle 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. It was built in 1915-16. It’s been vacant for around 40 years now and needs a lot of TLC, but remains structurally in pretty decent shape.  

 

Mt Rainier

On my way home from Tacoma late yesterday afternoon. Mt Rainier from Auburn, Washington near the old Valley Drive In...

Sunset from Normandy Park

Our most beautiful day so far this Spring in the Pacific Northwest. Sunset from Normandy Park, just a little north of the Des Moines Marina looking west over Puget Sound with the Olympic Mountains in the background. A wonderful way to spend a late May Day afternoon and evening. May 1, 2013 Normandy Park, Washington

Amocat Cafe

I was in the Triangle District, in Tacoma last Wednesday. I love this neighborhood just north of downtown Tacoma. I had a meeting in the morning with my pals and coworkers Chanel Studebaker and Kim Thompson Schildt at the Amocat Cafe. My first time here and it was love at first site. It's so totally authentically Tacoma that I signed right up and became an official full fledged member of The Society for a Backwards Tacoma!

I'm looking forward to checking out the handcrafted small batch beers brewed in house. Amocat Cafe is home to Tacoma Brewing Company.

I haven't been in the Triangle for about two years and was so delighted to see all the new "local" businesses. I'll be back soon. I'm going to have to check out STINK, sounds like my kind of place.

Amocat Cafe    Stink Cheese-Meat    Tacoma Brewing Co.

High Water this afternoon on the Cedar River Trail

I caught a tweet from @CityofRenton this afternoon so on my way through town I stopped at the Library to take a look. It's a beautiful Spring afternoon (finally after a long rainy spell!)... The sun is out and the Cedar River is high and rising. Downtown Renton at the Bronson Way bridge about 4:15 pm, the Cedar River Trail is closed.

Let it Rain

Let it Rain! And this morning that couldn't have been more appropriate because after all it is Seattle, it is spring time, and indeed the Seattle wind was a blowing and the rain was really coming down.

I headed out extra early so I could meet Charlie at the 14 Carrot Café in Eastlake before 8:00 am, but WRONG!, Interstate 5 was a parking lot so I bailed off the freeway for Beacon Hill, up 15th through the International District, then First Hill, then Capitol Hill and finally down to Eastlake.

Let it Rain! And it was worth the commute and I made it by 8:15 am! Today was our Activerain Spring Meetup. I've been a regular on the Activerain real estate network since 2009. I love that place and have more friends there than I can count. Many of them I have not met in person.

Friend, you say? Yes, indeed I said friend! I've been in a lot of conversations with people that I know there and admire. We talk about title insurance, we talk about technology and real estate, and we talk about our kids and passions too.

I know them on Google+, Facebook and Linkedin and on occasion I go old school and give them a call. "What's up?"

Today was one of those great days where you get some real FACE time. You get to have breakfast and chat over coffee about life, the universe, and everything.

These are the people in my life, virtually and really, and they contribute to my life in countless wonderful ways that are way too much to express in a blog post.

As Captain Jack Aubrey said in the Patrick O'Brian novel via the 2003 film: Master and Commander, The Far Side of the World...

"What a fascinating modern age we live in."

Titlow Beach, Tacoma...

In Tacoma today for some appointments with Cathi Mahan. We took a minute to pop by Titlow Park. I love this area and the views are wonderful, even if it's a grey rainy afternoon.

Titlow Beach was named after attorney Aaron R. Titlow who purchased 30 acres of the Wilton Land Claim in 1903. Here he built the very popular Hotel Hesperidos. Titlow died in 1923 and the Metro Parks of Tacoma bought the land in 1926.

History of the Titlow Beach Lodge

Titlow Park