Prominent Nalley Valley building gets new owner familiar to Tacoma

[Originally published by The News Tribune]

A century-old brick building in Tacoma's Nalley Valley built at the height of the city's furniture manufacturing era has been bought by a familiar name.

Horizon Partners Northwest bought the Willamette Building for $6 million earlier this month. The 240,000-square-foot building at 2916 S. Steele St. is fully leased, and some tenants have been there since the 1960s.

Once known as the Harmon Building, it also hosted the Willamette Casket Co. in its earlier years.

"This building embodies the type of work we do here at Horizon Partners,” said Mike Bartlett, Founder and CEO. “This building is a piece of Tacoma’s history and is worth preserving to better position it for the next century of use.”

The company has a track record of buying historic buildings and repurposing them for new uses.

Horizon Partners is also behind the $50 million project in downtown Tacoma called the Brewery Blocks. The development includes plans for a mix of parking, retail, restaurants and office space from South 21st and 23rd streets, facing South C and Commerce streets.