- United Way of Thurston County -

Published December 17, 2006

Downtown on downward spiral

Criticism is difficult to take.

But if the members of the Olympia City Council care a whit about the economic vitality and livability of downtown Olympia, they had darn well better sit up and pay attention to the harsh words leveled at them last week by Seattle developer Jim Potter.

It's easy, we suppose, for City Hall to give short shrift to Potter's claim that downtown Olympia is on a downward spiral. City officials can say it's merely sour grapes from a man whose 100-unit condo project didn't materialize. Critics will attempt to marginalize him by dismissing him as a greedy developer.

But we're here to say that Jim Potter is spot on with his criticism of the capital city. There are a whole lot of South Sound residents who agree with his view that downtown Olympia falls far short of what it could - and should - become.

Yes, Potter sees Olympia through the eyes of an outsider - an outsider who has had successful projects in other communities and a man who is accustomed to dealing with the bureaucracy of multiple city halls. The arrogance in this city is unlike any other jurisdiction he has dealt with.

A simple question
Potter challenges this city and the Olympia City Council with a simple question: Who is going to be the champion for downtown Olympia?

Council members will say they are the champions. But are they?

Potter says developing market-rate housing in downtown Olympia has been a priority for the Olympia City Council for the better part of 11 years. Yet no significant project has been completed - not one in 11 years. How effective is the Olympia City Council if it has not been able to deliver on a top-priority goal in more than a decade?

Potter's question is appropriate: Who is going to be the champion for downtown Olympia?

Walk downtown streets. What do you see?

We see one vacant storefront after another - like missing teeth in a beauty queen's smile. We see tarp-covered scaffolding that's been in place since shortly after the Feb. 28, 2001, earthquake. We see a boarded-up, fire-gutted office supply store that the city seems willing to tolerate in perpetuity.

We see the Department of Corrections taking its 400 employees to Tumwater. We see Capitol City Press taking another 40 employees to Mottman Industrial Park. The buildings, both owned by Potter, stand vacant - the employees doing their shopping and eating someplace other than downtown Olympia. We see longtime icons such as The Spar and Talcott and Panowicz jewelers giving up or going elsewhere. Not even the United Way can stay put.

Who is going to be the champion for downtown Olympia?

Vacancy rate
Councilman TJ Johnson brags that 85 percent of the stores downtown are occupied?

Where does he get that number? And is a 15 percent vacancy rate acceptable?

Who is going to be the champion for downtown Olympia?

Potter points to other Puget Sound communities - Renton and Auburn, for two - that are doing something more than talk. They are putting their words to action. Who is not impressed by Tacoma's turnaround or even the attractiveness of Bellingham's downtown shopping district?

Who is going to be the champion for downtown Olympia?

Many communities waive or minimize impact fees to attract development to their business districts. They understand that downtown condos don't attract many students, that developers install their own parking facilities and that there is not a lot of impact - beyond creating a more vibrant downtown with people walking the streets, shopping and enjoying restaurants.

Not here. Olympia has a well-earned reputation for being extremely difficult for developers to do business with. This community seems to have a phobia against capitalism and people - especially developers - who make a profit. The city wants to squeeze every penny out of every project with high fees, stringent regulations and slim- to no-profit margins. The city is reaping precisely what it deserves - no downtown housing, no downtown development, a downtown on a downward spiral.

Who is going to be the champion for downtown Olympia?

The city has, for years, courted someone - anyone - to use city property for market rate housing. Potter came to Olympia eager to participate and with a track record of success to back it up. But the City Council's actions don't match its rhetoric, and the 100-condo unit plan fell flat.

"I've moved on," Potter said. "The city has told me to get lost, and that they're done. So I've moved on."

One last time: Who is going to be the champion for downtown Olympia?