Horizon pays $6M for 1907 Tacoma building

[Originally published by the seattle daily journal of commerce]

Horizon Partners Northwest paid $6 million for the historic Willamette Building in Tacoma's Nalley Valley at 2916 S. Steele St.

F.S. Harmon Manufacturing Co. was the seller of the 240,000-square-foot industrial complex that was built in 1907 when Tacoma was a furniture manufacturing center, according to Horizon.

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

A Horizon spokeswoman said the company will do some maintenance on the building. That will kick off soon with landscape improvements, followed by interior and exterior updates.

Horizon said the space is fully leased, and all the tenants will stay. Some have been there since the 1960s. The spokeswoman said there are no plans to change the use of the building.

Current tenants are Item House, North Star Glove, Ultra Poly Industries, Solar Gem Greenhouse, Founder's Choice, 5th Floor LLC, T.A. Manning Roofing Co., and artists William Turner and Becky Frehse.

The building gets its name from Willamette Casket Co., which operated there during its early days. Another notable past tenant was Fremont Smith Harmon, who also ran a furniture distribution warehouse on Tacoma's Pacific Avenue.

Horizon has been developing in downtown Tacoma since 1999. It owns and manages nearly 400,000 square feet of commercial real estate, mostly in Tacoma but also in Oakland, California.

Horizon is redeveloping the Brewery Blocks near UW Tacoma. That project will transform two blocks, with over 200 market-rate housing units, 75,000 square feet of office, 50,000 square feet of retail and 300 parking stalls.