City Hall Turns Landlord on the Tideflats
Tacoma assumes control of former Northern Pacific Railway properties and begins collecting rent.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The vacation and franchise ordinances for the Northern Pacific railway were all passed last night on the depot proposition, and the deeds were accepted by the council for the property turned over by the railway. On the Dock street triangle the city has some tenants and as long as they stay there the city can collect rent. There are also tenants on some of the tideflat property and the railway company agreed to transfer this lease to the city so there will be some revenue from that source also. This deal promises to make the city quite a landlord as there are plenty of applicants for leases on the tideflat property and the city can get rental until it is ready to put in municipal docks there. The Pacific avenue lot also will be a good site for business.
“This deal promises to make the city quite a landlord as there are plenty of applicants for leases on the tideflat property.”
Tacoma’s long-standing struggle with the use of its tideflats is still relevant today, as debates over waterfront development and industrial versus public use echo this 1909 pivot toward municipal control.
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