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Another landmark business closes it’s doors in Tacoma. According to the News Tribune, after 74 years and at least a couple changes in ownership, the landmark next to the Old Town Dock is closing. The current owners, described as a ’seafood giant’, is probably just cutting the fat on an unprofitable operation. The employees will move to another of the company’s locations so no jobs appear to have been lost.

It was on TV news on a ‘local’ channel (in Seattle) and they interviewed a few passers-by who all seemed to say, “I never shopped there but it’s sad to see it close.” I think that probably explains why it closed.

I’ve noticed a trend in Tacoma where businesses move to other cities, though this clearly isn’t one of those. But I think it does point to another example of the reshaping of the city.

What was once and area teaming with industry and all of the blue collar employees who passed by each day on their way to and from work, is now little more than restaurant row with a few professional offices splattered around with a hotel in there for good measure. A trend I think will continue as environmentalists make it harder (and more expensive) to build on shoreline, as well as real estate trends that favor views (and let me tell you, this place has a view). Only businesses that can capitalize on the view will arrive or remain there.

There is one relative unknown that might change that. Down at the end of Ruston Way is a new development known as Point Ruston. It’s formerly the site of the Asarco smelter, which changed into a Super Fund Cleanup Site and is currently the home of a huge, man-made on-site toxic waste storage facility… but don’t worry, it’s monitored for safety.

So far the only known (future) tenants of Point Ruston is another hotel in the Silver Cloud chain, just like the one 2 miles down the road, also on the waterfront. The new one will be half-again as big and will have all of the amenities that the first one doesn’t (restaurant, spa, etc.) Since hotel’s generally don’t draw new businesses, other than restaurants and maybe a few tourist attractions, I guess that’s what we can expect for theRuston Way waterfront for some years to come. Maybe the nearby marina will improve it’s appearance since it’s pretty run down. But other than that, I personally don’t expect a big boom.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 at 11:27 pm and is filed under Tacoma Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.