Cleaning Up Martin Luther King, Jr. Way

By Jill FitzSimmons

Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Tacoma, Washington, is a neighborhood with a rough reputation. The area has more than its share of vacant lots and empty storefronts. In the past, the thoroughfare has been known more for its crime and poverty than its economic development.

Recently, a study by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department identified 21 former gas station sites on or near a two-mile stretch of MLKJ Way. All have no record of tank removal or cleanup. These potentially contaminated properties present another economic hurdle in an area with an already tarnished reputation.

Still, two Tacoma men, Felix Flannigan and Rev. Ivory Crittendon, who have a vested interest in this neighborhood see much opportunity around them. One is the head of a housing association and the other a man of the church. Working closely with the health department, they’re looking to take advantage of the brownfields in their backyards, using the properties to stimulate economic growth and create a new reputation for upper Tacoma.

Building Home Ownership
MLKJ Way was once centered in Tacoma’s second busiest retail district. But for the past 40 years, the area has been neglected. In 1990, there were 400 homes boarded up along the thoroughfare, says Felix Flannigan, executive director of the Martin Luther King Housing Development Association. The business corridor remains 40 percent empty. Flannigan knows of at least six properties in a 10-block area suspected of having abandoned underground storage tanks. In most cases, these properties haven’t been used in years.

“We look at a disadvantaged neighborhood differently than other people,” Flannigan says. “We look at it from a progressive standpoint. This is an emerging market.”
The housing association is a community-based organization providing affordable housing, emergency shelter and supportive services. It promotes self-sufficiency through home ownership, neighborhood revitalization and economic development.

The housing association plans to build a six-story, mixed-used building with office and residential space. Phase I and Phase II assessments are under way on a corner lot property, the site of a former gas station. Construction could begin this summer. Flannigan views the project as a catalyst for economic development on the MLKJ corridor.

From the project also has emerged an idea to create a brownfield fund to help other property owners clean up these sites. Spearheaded by the housing association, the fund will be open to developers who have mitigation issues. These are not distressed neighborhoods, but rather markets to be developed, Flannigan says.

While Flannigan criticizes how the business corridor has been overlooked in the past, he also talks with much optimism about the new partnership that’s been built between the housing association and the county and city. Prior to working with the health department, his organization suspected contamination at the site but didn’t have the means to move forward. The health department is providing the expertise and the resources through a brownfield grant to address these issues, putting the project on the fast track, Flannigan says.

Flannigan reminds developers they need to take advantage of imperfections in the market that might one day resurrect a neighborhood

Out With the Bad, In With the Good
Looking to force out the bad influences in his neighborhood, the Rev. Ivory Crittendon of The Brotherhood Church of God bought an entire city block on MLKJ Way. A neighborhood resident since 1965, Crittendon has seen people shot at, beaten up and strung out on drugs in his neighborhood. He started buying properties — about six in all — to run the drug dealers out and give families a better place to live.

“My whole life is to make life better for everybody,” says Crittendon, 75. “I don’t care about trouble. I just want to get something done.”

By Crittendon’s count, the church and school he established on MLKJ Way have helped more than 900 young people in this neighborhood. Looking to add one more positive to his neighborhood, Crittendon wants to redevelop a corner lot that sits across from the school. He bought the property in 1974 and ran a business there until 2000. There were few signs the property had been a gas station in the 1940s.

In fact, he didn’t know until the health department contacted him. Crittendon plans to build a housing complex on the property, turning it into an investment for the community and families living there.

Crittendon would like MLKJ Way to become an atmosphere of great minds, leadership and learning. He wants a stable community where good citizens live. He’s holding out hope “the worst will become the best,” he says.

“The neighborhood has been blessed with a lot of sweet light,” Crittendon says. “We want the best neighborhood in the city.” BFN

Jill FitzSimmons is a freelance journalist working with the Washington state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.