26-04-2025
This downtown Olympia block, seen as an eyesore for years, has turned a corner. Here's why
Olympia City Councilman Jim Cooper, who has served on the council for 14 years, recalled a day when he and his wife dined at the Thai Pavilion, a restaurant downtown on Fourth Avenue, between Franklin and Adams streets.
As they did, he looked across the street at the former Griswold's office supply business, which was destroyed by fire in 2004, and thought that in time the building would be replaced.
Twenty-one years later and that moment is here. A new mixed-use development is being built on the site, a former longtime nightclub called Jake's on 4th is set to return this summer, plus there have been other changes. Casa Catrina is a relatively new restaurant on the block and a new Asian eatery called Amanda's Restaurant is coming to the same area, too, according to an 'open soon' sign.
All of these changes have helped transform the block from a less than desirable location to one on a new path.
'We're bringing back life to this block,' Cooper said.
A key component to changing the look and feel of the block is Old 99, a mixed-use development that will have 2,600 square feet of commercial space, but also housing, including affordable housing, said Ron Thomas of Thomas Architecture Studios about the Walker John-led project.
Thomas often speaks about their projects because they work closely together on them. In fact, developer John's first project in Olympia was on the corner of Adams Street and Fourth Avenue, where he redeveloped the Cunningham Building. Since then, John has built about 500 apartment units in downtown, Thomas said.
Old 99 — so named for the highway that passed through Olympia before Interstate 5 — will have 48 units: 36 studio and 12 one-bedroom apartments, 60% of which will be rented to people with 80% of the area median income, he said.
It took time to reach this point. Previous private sector proposals for the Griswold's site never materialized, plus there was the Great Recession and the pandemic. Before COVID-19, the city had taken steps through a community renewal program to aid in the redevelopment of the site, including condemnation powers, but never used them, Cooper said.
Instead, the city paid $300,000 for the site, then sold it to John for $50,000 in exchange for a commitment to do affordable housing. A percentage of units are to remain affordable for a number of years, according to that agreement.
'This project represents the culmination of nearly a decade of city effort, including acquisition, demolition, and resale to support development,' said Jennica Machado, the city's new economic development director. 'It will help realize greater mixed-use and mixed-income inventory as called for by both Olympia's Downtown Strategy and Housing Action Plan.'
The project is expected to take 15 months, Thomas said, and when it opens the residential gallery entrance will be in the alley behind the building. The alley has been vacated, he said. It also will have a rooftop deck.
'It will have all the feeling of a market-rate building, but at an affordable price point,' Thomas said.
The Olympian reached out to the Olympia Downtown Alliance, a booster and organizer of downtown events and causes.
'The Downtown Alliance continues to be excited to see that section of 4th Ave reactivated,' said Board President Erik Johnson in an email. 'We have long hoped that ownership of the prominent business property (formerly Jake's) would find the right opportunity to reanimate their space. Jake's was a beacon of nightlife and activity downtown. We're happy folks will have the option to spend more time downtown.'
Johnson is the owner of Olympia Computer, a downtown business.
'I can say for myself as a business owner of Olympia Computer that activating vacant or unused spaces seems to bring in positive energy to our downtown environment,' he said. 'We know when a space is activated and people are engaged, we see fewer negative behaviors in or near that space.'
He also hopes the transformation of the block changes some images of downtown.
'We hope that folks with a negative perception of downtown, individuals who may not have been downtown in some time, head back downtown and see the private and public investments being made in the community,' Johnson wrote. 'We hope they see the action and change happening and that it turns their negative perception into a positive.'
Machado also pointed out that the improvements made along Franklin Street from 2021 to 2022 enhanced the area as well.
'If we're already seeing a positive effect in surrounding spaces, I'd say that's a promising sign,' she wrote.
Not everyone agrees that changes on that block are transformative. Some say downtown won't turn a corner until the space next to the Artesian Well has been reopened to the public. The space between Adams and Jefferson streets was opened as an urban park, then closed years ago following some troublesome incidents.
Councilman Cooper agrees that downtown needs those small open spaces. He said there is talk of opening a night market on that site.
Machado called the closed-off area an opportunity for the city.
'I'm not certain what that looks like yet, or when we'll know more, but it's going to be one of our early priorities,' she said.
