A part of Tacoma’s ‘soul’ likely to be razed to make way for light-rail station

The Sound Transit Board unanimously approved a plan that would build a new Tacoma Dome Link light rail station where the historic Freighthouse Square currently sits. The choice to move forward with the “Close to Sounder” option is an important next step in connecting Tacoma to Seattle and other cities along the Link.

Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello, who is one of the vice presidents of the Sound Transit Board, told the News Tribune on Monday that option is the best route for commuters as it’s close to the Amtrak, T Line and bus stations. The plan approved by Sound Transit was also the option recommended by the Tacoma City Council in May.

The design stage won’t be up for final approval until 2027, with construction expected to be completed in 2035. Forty-three local businesses are expected to be displaced by the new Dome station, according to a Sound Transit presentation June 26. Additionally, Freighthouse Square, which was built in 1909 and has served as an indoor marketplace for more than 100 years, could be fully demolished. It is at 2501 E. D. St., next to the Tacoma Dome Station and Tacoma’s Amtrak Station.

The assessed taxable value of the Freighthouse Square building (which is made up of three parcels) is $2,866,500, according to the Assessor-Treasurer office. A parking lot across the street, also owned by Time in Space LLC, has an assessed value of $933,000.

Sound Transit has said it will support Freighthouse Square tenants with ongoing engagement and relocation assistance. But in interviews with The News Tribune last week, tenants said they’ve felt out of the loop about what will happen to their livelihoods and many didn’t think they would be able to feasibly afford moving elsewhere.

Building owner Brian Borgelt told the News Tribune on Tuesday he has been talking with Sound Transit about the project for years and said there haven’t been many major updates to share until recently. Borgelt said Freighthouse Square has been a long-time incubator for new businesses and given many people their first opportunity to open a business in a place they couldn’t afford elsewhere. He said he’s been clear with Sound Transit about wanting his tenants to be fairly compensated for relocation assistance and/or possible integration into a new building plan.

Borgelt said the building has strong bones and could be restored, but he’s had to do cost-benefit analyses on the cost of renovations knowing the building could be torn down in the future. About 70 tenants are in the space in a given time, he said.

According to Sound Transit spokesperson David Jackson, displaced businesses would be eligible for up to $200,000 in re-establishments costs, in addition to moving expenses. How much businesses would receive “will vary based on [the] type of business and its requirements,” he said in an email.

Mello said business owners would be “highly impacted” by future transit construction and would not have received any relocation assistance had Sound Transit decided on an alternative plan.

“There’s lots of time to work with them to make sure they get really fair relocation assistance, which in this case is very fair,” he said.

Sound Transit officials are thinking of ways to support local business, like opening a new food hall or possibly considering a food hall in the bottom level of the new station, Mello said. They also are thinking about historic elements they could preserve in the design of the station and will work with the City of Tacoma and the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

If business owners don’t think the relocation assistance is enough, Mello said, he’d encourage them to “continue to make their case and negotiate with Sound Transit, prove their costs.”A map of the preferred Tacoma Dome Link Extension route would connect Tacoma to Federal Way by 2035. Sound Transit What would the route look like?

The latest cost estimate for the Tacoma Dome Link Extension from Federal Way to the Tacoma Dome is $4.7 billion, Jackson said.

The Tacoma Dome Link Extension project would build four light rail stations over about 10 miles between South Federal Way and Tacoma: South Federal Way Station, the Fife Station, Tacoma’s Portland Avenue Station and the Tacoma Dome Station.

The planning process began in 2017 and will end in 2027. The design process is expected to last from 2027-2029, and construction would take place from 2029-2035, according to a May Sound Transit presentation. Service is expected to begin in 2035.

Next steps include the approval of a final environmental impact statement and preliminary engineering in 2027, according to Sound Transit.

The Sound Transit Board considered three other alternative routes to the “Close to Sounder” option in the Tacoma Dome District, including the Tacoma 25th Street-West Alternative, the Tacoma 25th Street-East Alternative and the Tacoma 26th Street Alternative. Those alternatives would displace significantly fewer businesses but proved to be more costly, according to a Sound Transit comparative analysis. The “Close to Sounder” option also had fewer construction-access impacts on East 25th Street.Shops at Freighthouse Square on Thursday, June 26, 2025, in Tacoma. Brian Hayes/bhayes@thenewstribune.com Business owners worry about demolition

Four Freighthouse Square business owners The News Tribune spoke to on Friday said they opposed the “Close to Sounder” option that likely would demolish some or all of Freighthouse Square. Some people call the indoor mall Tacoma’s Pike Place Market, with clothing and candy shops, art galleries, a tattoo parlor, a bike shop and restaurants selling Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, Indian, Persian and Japanese cuisine.

Natural Allah, who has owned the Olive Branch Cafe and Tea Room for five years, said his business is the only one he knows of that offers upscale tea services in Pierce County. Allah said he gets most of his information about the possible demolition of Freighthouse Square from the news or social media and said the building owner hasn’t communicated updates to tenants, which brings them anxiety.

“The ambiguity is the problem,” he said. “Many of the businesses here, it’s their livelihood, and you’re basically saying, ‘Well, we’re gonna give you something, you know, but we’re not gonna tell you what it is. You’re going to have to move, but we’re not gonna say exactly when.’ How does that play out, you know, in the scheme of things?”

Allah said he understands the need for a light rail station, but he’s concerned demolishing Freighthouse Square to build it will erase Tacoma history until “all we’re left with are pictures and little sound bites of different things.”

Chayan and Teresa Samalee, of Paya Thai Fish & Chips — one of the best places to get fish and chips in the area in 2023, according to News Tribune readers — have been a staple of the Freighthouse Square food court for more than 30 years. Teresa Samalee said Friday she’s watched the building change over the decades and has seen foot traffic drop in recent years, something she attributes to the COVID-19 pandemic and closure of other businesses downtown.

Teresa Samalee said many Sounder commuters don’t stop at Freighthouse Square after their commute, eager to get in their cars and go home. If Freighthouse Square is demolished, the couple doesn’t plan to open another business elsewhere.

“We’re both in our 70s,” she said. “We would continue to stay here, but we wouldn’t want to relocate and rebuild. If we were ready to retire, we would leave it with one of our employees because we’ve got a good product going.”

For seven years Adela Hernandez said she has been running Adela’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant as a single mom and struggles to pay herself a salary. Hernandez said all the small businesses at Freighthouse Square work hard to invest in their businesses and build community, and not knowing what will happen to the space is “very tough.”

“Somebody has to listen to us,” she said. “Over here, everybody, we are like a family. We look out for each other, and we help each other … We are good people.”

Through tears, Hernandez said she’s looked for other places to move to but could not find anywhere in her budget. Hernandez said she has invested much time and money into securing the right permits and equipment to get to where she is now and that she would have to start over if she moved.

“If we are moving everything, [we are] losing everything again,” she said. “I’m taking home maybe the minimum, everything else I pay everybody. It hurts. It really is not fair. It really hurts. But what [are] my options?”

Josh Alday, who opened Bike Box in October, said he wishes Sound Transit would build a new station on the vacant lots on East 26th Street down the road rather than demolish Freighthouse Square. Alday said he chose the location to start his business because it was on a transit hub and rent was affordable for small businesses like his.

“This place is part of the heart of Tacoma. It’s part of the soul of Tacoma. There’s three event spaces in here that’s primarily used by the BIPOC community for quinceaneras, weddings, birthdays, private parties. They have EDM [afterparties] here after the EDM shows wrap up at the Dome,” he said. “Sound Transit knows what they’re doing is wrong.”