A deal to sell a pair of City-owned historic properties in the Hilltop to a private developer has finally closed.
Conversations have been underway since last year between the City of Tacoma, which had owned the Kellogg-Sicker and Pochert buildings on MLK for the last decade, and developer Kevin Grossman, who plans to retore them. Grossman’s plan is to restore the buildings, which once housed the Browne’s Star Grill among other things, as a mixed-use development with 10 residential units over retail spaces.
There was a slight delay in the sale, when Grossman requested a two-month extension to sort out details on financing the deal, but it looks like those details got sorted out, and the project is moving forward. The TNT reports that Grossman, along with partners Patrick Rhodes and John Hunt, closed the deal to purchase the properties for approximately $120,000 on January 24. The agreement with the City requires the developer to break ground within 45 days of the date of sale. That would put the start date for construction no later than mid-March, and likely sooner.
The next piece of the development puzzle for that key block of the Hilltop Business District will be the vacant lots adjacent to the Kellogg-Sicker/Pochert project. Tacoma Housing Authority is at work lining up funding for a new construction project on those parcels.
Source: Feb 5, 2014, Exit133