ANswering questions. Tim Quigg fields questions during a press conference at Tullyâ??s at Ninth and Broadway Sept. 25. (Photo by John Larson)
The group of investors that wants to purchase the Winthrop Apartments building and convert it to its former use as a luxury hotel has a formal name and has revealed the names of two prominent businessmen who have joined the team.
A group led by Gig Harbor resident Tim Quigg of Quigg Brothers Construction and Edmonds resident Chester Trabucco entered into an agreement last week with Oakland developer A.F. Evans to purchase the building. Evans actually has an option to purchase it from the current owner.
Quigg, Trabucco and others who share their dream of restoring the Winthrop as a four-star hotel held a press conference Sept. 25 at the Tully’s at South 9th Street and Broadway where the group has gathered each Monday morning over the summer to ponder the future of the historic building across the street.
The group has formed a limited liability corporation called Citizen Hotel LLC. Trabucco announced the names of two investors in the project. They are Mike Hickey, principal with real estate firm Neil Walter Company, and Tom Absher, Jr., executive vice president of Absher Construction.
Coast Hotels is also on board. Trabucco described them as one of the most respected hotels chains on the West Coast. “We have some real muscle behind us,” he remarked.
Quigg mentioned a discussion he had with a party interested in putting an Italian restaurant in the building.
Ryan Petty, director of the city’s Community and Economic Development Department, said the city council has a clear preference for the hotel option. He stressed the need to get philanthropic groups involved in the affordable housing component of the project. “There is room for everyone to play at this table,” he remarked.
Tacoma should be a model for affordable housing, according to Quigg. He discussed the skills set he believes people involved with affordable housing should have. These include faith-based values and being raised in a large family. Representatives of several non-profit organizations that deal with housing for the poor were in attendance.
Trabucco discussed his experience living in a hotel converted to apartments as a youth. When he was 14, his father passed away, and Trabucco ended up living in such a hotel in Oregon for a year.
In Trabucco’s vision for the restoration, the rooms won’t all look alike. He wants the Winthrop to be unique to Tacoma. “It needs to be a destination in and of itself,” he said. “There is nothing like it on the West Coast. I see it being an exciting place.”
He asked how many people at the meeting had been in the 3,500-square-foot presidential suite at the top the building. Three hands went up. Trabucco said the room should be available for the public to go up and enjoy the view.
Trabucco also went over some financial details. His group made a $250,000 deposit in an escrow account Sept. 22, as required by the agreement they reached with A.F. Evans last week. By Oct. 19, it will be required to make another $250,000 deposit.
Trabucco said it would be much easier for him and his business partners to start from scratch and build a 40-story condominium tower,
Brian Fitzgerald, managing principal with TCF Architecture, discussed his firm’s involvement. It is working on some initial designs for the renovation. He mentioned the investor group’s interest in having condominiums in the building.
The original designs for the Winthrop called for three towers, but the third tower, meant for the north side of the structure, was never completed. Fitzgerald suggested this tower could be built and used for the condominium component. “There are all kinds of possibilities,” he remarked.
Daniel Putnam, president of engineering firm PCS Structural Solutions, said the third tower could possibly be taller than the two existing ones. “This is a great opportunity, with a lot of unknowns,” Putnam said.
