Tacoma Apartments | Living in the Great Northwest
Posted on January 13, 2009
Filed Under Apartment Living | 10 Comments
The economy may be flagging, but in Tacoma, WA, there is reason for hope. And if you are interested in relocating to this vibrant city south of Seattle, more jobs seem to be generating, and the quality of life is high.
Encouraged by Tacoma’s ongoing renaissance and undaunted by the presence of one of the largest state-based banks, two startup banks are hatching plans to open in the City of Destiny later this year.
The new financial institutions, the Bank of Tacoma and Commencement Bank, aim to open branches in Tacoma’s downtown core, taking on Tacoma-based Columbia Bank and other established players. The banks’ leaders say a booming Tacoma economy, along with a lack of new players, will deliver substantial business opportunities.
“There’s plenty of room in this market for another bank,” said Hal Russell, who is slated to serve as Commencement’s president and chief executive officer. Russell is a veteran of Columbia Bank, where he spent 11 years and was an executive vice president before stepping down two years ago.
The Bank of Tacoma’s leader, Michael Hansch, also has close ties to the area. Hansch spent more than 20 years as senior vice president and manager for the southwest Washington arm of Bank of America’s private bank division. He retired from Bank of America earlier this year.
A majority stake in the Bank of Tacoma will be held by Capitol Bancorp Ltd., which is headquartered in Lansing, Mich., and Phoenix. Capitol specializes in developing community banks and has been working hard to expand its presence in the Puget Sound area. Capitol launched the Bank of Bellevue last year and is currently forming the Bank of Everett. Capitol owns 42 banks in 13 states.
The new banks will try to capitalize on Tacoma’s ongoing development, and to follow in the footsteps of Columbia, which was founded in 1993 and now holds roughly $2.4 billion in assets.
First, the banks must raise millions of dollars at a time when competition for capital could be stiff. The Puget Sound region has seen approximately eight startup banks over the past two years and, while fundraising for those banks has been relatively easy, rising stock prices and the surging economy now present investors with a variety of appealing investment alternatives.
At Commencement, Russell said he should have no trouble raising its target of $20 million, thanks to his contacts in Tacoma and to pent-up demand among local bank investors. New banks are typically lucrative investments, and “there hasn’t been a bank stock available in Tacoma in a number of years,” Russell said.
The Bank of Tacoma plans to raise between $8 million and $10 million and, because Capitol provides 51 percent of its banks’ initial funding, the bank will likely face a smaller fundraising burden than Commencement. Once the bank opens, Capitol will likely follow its standard business plan of offering the bank’s board members and shareholders a one-time stock exchange after three years. Under the terms of the exchange, Capitol typically trades its own publicly held shares for the remaining 49 percent of stock, at 150 percent of book value.
Commencement will be privately held and, like most startups, will target small and medium-sized businesses. According to Russell, the bank will immediately focus on a broad geographic area including Pierce County, north Thurston County, and south King County.
So there you have it. Good reasons to consider living in Tacoma as an opportunity for a fresh start.
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Help answer the question about downtown apartment living
What do kids who live in downtown apartment blocks do on Hallowe'en?They are definitely not seen going door-to-door trick-or-treating in the buildings I've lived in.
How on earth am I supposed to give out candy…?
About Author
Michael Russell writes about a variety of subjects. This article discusses moving to Tacoma, WA. For more information about Tacoma apartments, visit Apartment Finder.
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10 Responses to “Tacoma Apartments | Living in the Great Northwest”
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This place is a dump. Very old and run down. For the same price, or even, cheaper, you can get something brand new with better views right across the street – I did!
Modern apartment buildings have secure parking usually underground,. Older type buildings are called unit blocks and generally have carports for parking at the back of the buildings.
have a look at this real estate site to give you an idea…if renting prices are per week.
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/SearchResults.aspx?mode=rent&Refine=1&state=NSW&areas=Sydney+City&sub=Sydney&pcodes=2000&ssubs=1&displmap=0&areato=2147483647&from=0&to=2147483647&proptypes=&ptdes=All%20Property%20Types&searchterm=sydney
Depends on how high up you are and what type of building it is. The higher up you are, the less noise and commotion you hear. That's if you have a balcony. There are quite a few dwelling downtown that don't have balconies. For instance, you could live in the John Hancock building. No balconies and no noise, but a great view. And some of the people there are so high up in the sky that it could be raining on the street below and they don't know it until they get downstairs. But again, it depends on the building and how high up you are.
As for cost, yes, everything is a big more expensive downtown. The stores charge more because they figure you can afford it if you can liv downtown. True, you can be steps away from all of the "action", but if you want to go somewhere quiet you have to drive quite a ways away. There are lots of other neighborhoods in Chicago where you can just walk to a quiet park in a matter of minutes.
Finally, make sure the area you're looking at is "downtown". Lots of people who are unfamiliar with the city assume that places like Wrigleyville is "downtown". It's not. It may look like it on a map or have a lot of tall condos, but it's not officially "downtown". Also, there are a lot of condos in the south Loop which is also downtown, but it's a totally different atmosphere than the condos and apartments right in the center of downtown. Give us the approximate area you're talking about and we can tell you better what goes on there,
12 people in a 2 bedroom is highly illegal. I would rather live in a place where I knew I could not be evicted by the town/fire marshal at a moments notice.
Bethesda is much more expense then rockville. Bethesda is a very nice area, but the the traffic is so bad there because of the high rises and the limited streets. Plus you will be traveling Rt 355 past NIH and the Navy hospital. Rt 355 around these 2 areas is BAD during rush hour and will only get worst because of the construction at both locations.
If you work in Rockville, you should think about going north of Rockville (around Shady Grove Road). Prices are MUCH less!!! Rockville should have apartments!!!! Maybe you are not looking at the right areas.
Welcome to the DC area.
What area is the job located at? Email me if you want more help/information.
they get put in vans and driven out to the suburbs or they go to a chruch program
I have had Comcast for the past 5 years and have not had any problems. The broadband is extremely fast and I have only experienced one outage. I never lived in a high rise, so you'll have to ask your building manager about satellite.
There's no LOGO, but everything else is available from Comcast.
There is digital voice, but if you have a cell phone, stick with it. Cost is like $20-30 per month.
Yes, the prices are high, but the service and customer support have been excellent.
Hope this helps!
get everthing in WRITTING
and have a realestate lawyer check it out.
find out who the leasing agent is .
walk very careful through this egg shell field.
http://pennstate.craigslist.org/
http://pennstate.craigslist.org/apa/415293306.html
3 in a 1 bdrm is really crowded. 4 in a 2 bdrm is more doable – either bunk beds in both bdrms or two twin beds in each if there's room, or futons! If any of you are handy, create some semi-loft bed frames. Have the bed about waist or chest height – easier to jump onto than a bunk, but lots of storage space underneath.
4 x $250 = $1000
4 x $330 = $1320
Not real easy to find as they go fast, but keep looking! Don't forget to ask for the utilities history – depending on how well-built the place is (or isn't!) the utilities can really range.
Try this site……..
http://www.rent.com