$625,000
5 Beds + Office
2.25 Baths
2,960 Sq Ft (480 Unfinished)
12,000 Sq Ft Lot, 0.275 acre
2534 S G St, Tacoma
This Tacoma Craftsman with its urban homestead is set in the Hillside Neighborhood. Hillside sits right below Hilltop and right above Tacoma’s Downtown. That means it’s uniquely situated where commercial buildings, single-family homes, multi-family dwellings, and apartments meet and mix. On its 1/4 acre + of trees and berries, flowers and vines, this Craftsman has watched Tacoma change for over 100 years. The Tacoma Dome rose up just down the hill, the Port of Tacoma and the buildings downtown grew and evolved, but the mountain has remained. Is it time for the next phase of this Hillside home? The street has changed around it. A handful of single-family homes remain, but other lots are converted to accommodate a denser urban district, a new vision for Tacoma’s Downtown Residential Zone. We’ll get into details about this Downtown Residential zoning in the next section of this article. For now, understand that it means potential for multi-family and mixed-use retail/residential development.
All development potential aside, this is an American Craftsman surrounded by evergreens, fruit trees, and garden space. Inside, find fir floors, built-ins, an open staircase, 5 bedrooms, 2.25 baths, an office, and a partially finished basement. And the location has so much to offer! It’s close to UW Tacoma, museums like the Glass Museum and Washington State History Museum, hospitals, the Tacoma Dome Station, the Brewery Blocks, and the Tacoma Town Center site.
Continue for a video tour, zoning details and development opportunities, more about the location, and a closer look at the home and grounds.
Potential
This property has potential. It has the potential to continue serving as a happy single-family home with an abundance of green and growing things, to continue contributing to the canopy cover cleaning our city’s air. And it has the potential to transform and perhaps become a different kind of happy home, a home with multiple family units, a home with retail space below and residential spaces above.
This very much depends on the vision and goals of the next property owner. Should that vision include the possibility of development with denser housing or mixed-use plans, we’d like to share a bit more about the zoning and opportunities.
As mentioned above, this lot is within the Downtown Residential Zoning District. Here’s what the City of Tacoma Zoning Reference Guide can tell us: “The DR District contains a predominance of mid-rise, higher density, urban residential development, together with places of employment and retail services. The preferred use of the DR District is residential. Retail, office, and educational uses are also allowed. Industrial uses are prohibited. The maximum building height in this district is 90 feet.”
This zone has what are called “zero lot lines” so one may build to the edge of the lot. There are no parking requirements, and buildings may be as high as 90 feet. Another zoning detail to note is the Floor Area Ration or FAR. This property is zoned for FAR 2 which allows for buildings at a maximum of 20,000 sq ft. However, certain designs allow up to 48,000 sq ft. For example, if the building is retail on the bottom, the retail space could be exempt from the sq ft count, allowing for more total space.
But don’t take our word for it. If you’re serious about development, do your research and consult the experts.
You might start by consulting City of Tacoma resources such as:
Title 13 Land Use Regulatory Code (Pages 333-346 address DR Zoning)
South Downtown Subarea Plan - take a look at how this home and property fits into the overall area and the city’s goals for development and use of space.
Planning and Development Services and their Tacoma Permits page
Location - Walk, Bike, Ride, or Drive
Hillside Tacoma is a narrow neighborhood tucked below Hilltop and above Downtown. That means it gives easy access to everything Hilltop and Downtown have to offer from schools, museums, and restaurants to the YMCA. There’s easy access to I-5, to the South End, and to the Tacoma Dome Station, a hub for mass transit all over the South Puget Sound.
The area is changing and developing. The site of the Tacoma Town Center is less than half a mile away (with plans for retail, eSports, bowling, co-working, and living). The Brewery District has already seen revitalization in recent years with 7 Seas Brewing, among others. The City of Tacoma has a vision and plan for this area. You can read all about it in their South Downtown Subarea Plan. In the meantime, take a look at our list of just a few of the many Tacoma destinations and landmarks easily reached from the doors of 2534 S G. St.
Distance to Tacoma Landmarks & Favorites
7 Seas Brewery & Taproom: 0.5 miles
McCarver Park: 0.5 miles
University of WA Tacoma 0.7 miles
The Tacoma Dome Station: 0.8 miles (that’s 5 minutes by bike!)
St. Joseph Medical Center: 0.8 miles
Museum of Glass: 1 mile
Alma Mater: 1 mile
Pacific Grill: 1 mile
Greater Tacoma Convention Center: 1 mile
2nd Cycle: 1.3 miles
Tacoma School of the Arts (SOTA): 1.3 miles
Broadway Farmers Market: 1.4 miles
Wright Park: 1.5 miles
Coming Soon: Brewery Blocks and Tacoma Town Center
Tacoma Town Center: 0.3 miles
Brewery Blocks: 0.6 miles
The Home & Grounds
This home is listed with the awareness that the entire character and purpose of this 1/4 acre of the city may be transformed. Time will tell. But right now, it’s an urban homestead. It’s a place its caretakers describe as “abundant” and it has been so for over one hundred years. So we’d like to take a little time to explore what it is now, what it has been. Knowing that this old home may change compels us to give it time here. So whether this place in Tacoma lives on for another hundred years as a single family home surrounded by sunny berries and blossoms, or changes to suit a different vision of urban life, it is loved, it has done a good job.
Main Floor - Entry - Living Room - Dining Room - Bedroom - Kitchen - 1/4 Bath
Second Floor - 3 Bedrooms - Full Bath
Basement - Partially Finished - 1 Bedroom - 1 Office - 1 Full Bath - Workshop
Grounds - Fruit Trees - Evergreens - Berries - Flowers - Garden Beds - Shed
Main Floor
Second Floor
Partially Finished Basement
Grounds
More Information
For more information about this Craftsman home and Downtown Residential Zone property, call or text me, Michael Duggan, at 253-226-2787. I'll be happy to answer your questions about this home or the local real estate market in general.
And as suggested in the article above, we recommend contacting City of Tacoma Planning and Development Services for further details regarding zoning and development.