Historic Hotel For Sale: What Is The Best Use?

Built in 1925, the Winthrop Hotel was the place to stay when visiting Tacoma - then hard times fell in 1972 and the building was converted over to low-income (Section 8) housing.

1 minute read

November 30, 2003, 11:00 AM PST

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"Take away the layers of dirt and decay and it's easy to imagine the space becoming yet another triumph of downtown Tacoma's rebirth - a neglected civic treasure reclaimed for well-heeled urban hipsters.But beneath that drafty, vacant penthouse there are nearly 200 studio and one-bedroom apartments, spaces occupied for the last 30 years by low-income residents who stayed in the city during its darkest of days.That's the crux of a dilemma that surfaced last month when the Winthrop's owners decided to put the building up for sale: Is it better to hope for a buyer willing to bring back the building to its former glory, or one who will preserve the space for affordable housing?"

Thanks to Morgan Alexander

Friday, November 28, 2003 in Tacoma News Tribune

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