The Passages Partnership

President: Blaine Johnson

Specialty: Rehabilitation and renovation of historic buildings in downtown Tacoma

Year founded: 1999

Local office: Tacoma

Much of downtown Tacoma’s charm is in its historic buildings. Until recent years, that charm was buried under layers of dirt, graffiti and the inevitable disrepair that comes from years of neglect.

Today, historic buildings are finding new life in new roles. A prime example is the Passages Building — with a post office, hotel, vaudeville theater, and car showroom heritage dating back to 1889. It’s been completely renovated, restored and rejuvenated for a second century of service, this time as four stories of commercial condominiums.

Blaine Johnson, president of The Passages Partnership, began renovating the building in 2001, soon after it was added to the National Register of Historic Buildings. Johnson’s project is symbolic of what’s going on in Tacoma’s downtown, a renaissance of economic recovery and vitality.

Along with the city’s self-proclaimed image as “America’s Most Wired City,” a reference to its municipal high-speed Internet network that has attracted considerable high-tech interest downtown, Tacoma is busily promoting its new Museum of Glass, an operating Sound Transit light rail line, waterfront commercial development, new art and history museums, and a new convention center under construction.

“There’s a good amount of momentum in the development of Tacoma’s downtown,” Johnson said. “I think the city has done enough things now — and there are more things to come — that people are changing their thinking.

Instead of wondering if those guys in Tacoma know what they’re doing, they’re talking about how to get involved before they miss something,” Johnson said.

After restoring the old Passages Building, he sold commercial condo spaces that brought in Chamber’s Upper Alley, a showroom for bedroom accessories, the new Over the Moon Café, a graphic services business and others.

“There is also a significant amount of apartments and condos being built in this neighborhood, which is near the University of Washington’s new Tacoma campus,” Johnson said. “Catapult, a Seattle developer, is putting in 36 townhouses here.

“The nice thing about all this is that these aren’t cookie-cutter projects that are just copies of buildings in other cities. Tacoma’s downtown is being developed with special projects adapted to their environment.

And there’s still a significant amount of residential and commercial in-filling to be done here,” he said.