Multifamily projects are hot in Tacoma. Here’s what’s going up.
Tacoma is growing up — straight up.
Thousands of apartment units are under construction in structures that will tower above neighborhoods once occupied by small retail buildings and single-family houses. While most of the larger projects are clustered in the Brewery District near University of Washington Tacoma or near the Tacoma Dome transit station, projects are also underway on Sixth Avenue and in the Hilltop neighborhood.
Developers praise the city’s business-friendly climate and the growing mass transit connections. In addition, Tacoma offers multifamily property tax exemptions (MFTE) designed to stimulate economic development and add housing.
The building boom is coming in the nick of time, adding much-needed housing to accommodate Tacoma’s growing population, which increased 10% over the past decade to 219,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Puget Sound Regional Council forecasts the city will need 44,770 new housing units by 2040, which equates to 2,239 new units a year.
