10-05-2025
What is happening (or not) with 171 planned apartments near Tacoma Mall?
Plans for new apartments near the Tacoma Mall recently received an extension in terms of permitting.
Avanti Apartments, planned at the site of a former office building, 4218 S. Steele St., received an extension on its building permit last month.
'The building permit was granted an extension on April 17 for another 180 days (10/14/2025),' according to Maria Lee, media representative for the City of Tacoma. The status of the site's building permit is listed as 'awaiting resubmittal/revisions,' on the city's permit portal.
The site is owned by an LLC affiliated with Bend, Oregon-based Pahlisch real estate entity, which acquired the site in 2022 for $6.5 million. Pahlisch Commercial, which has offices in Bend, Oregon; Vancouver, Washington; and Bellevue, is the firm's branch that develops mixed-use, multifamily properties.
Pahlisch representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Tacoma site.
The project received an 8-year multifamily property tax exemption from City Council in 2023. Plans at the time called for 171 market-rate units, eight live/work units at ground level and around 130 parking spaces on the first two levels of the seven-story structure. In 2023, the city listed the development's completed assessed value at $75 million, based on estimated construction costs.
Pahlisch has other planned apartment projects in Western Washington. The developers earlier this year received an 8-year MFTE for a $135 million, 564-unit, market-rate apartment complex at Kent's West Hill.
In January, Pahlisch Commercial landed a $69.2 million construction loan for a a seven-story, 198-unit apartment building in Vancouver, Washington, as reported by
