The City of Tacoma hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning to commemorate the work done in partnership with the Pacific Plaza Development, LLC for the redevelopment of the South Park Plaza Parking Garage.

The South Park Plaza Garage has evolved from a tired space to a newly renovated state-of-the-art, green facility. Project highlights include a retrofit parking structure with an additional 102 parking stalls to complement the existing 381 stalls; two floors of Class-A office space and the conversion of the Pacific Avenue retail space; and the reconstruction of the public hill climb connecting Pacific Avenue and Commerce Street.

Additionally, the project was designed to meet LEED Platinum certification, the highest possible rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. As part of the design some of the sustainable features include: a highly visible green roof covering approximately 85 percent of the building; a rainwater collection cistern which will reduce rainwater runoff from the site and will be utilized for water reuse in the facility and irrigation of the green roof; as well as a state-of-the-art heating and cooling system.

Pacific Plaza is located at 1250 Pacific Avenue.

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Earlier this month, the Index was invited on a tour of the new building prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. For coverage of that tour, click on the following links:

1. PHOTOS / Pacific Plaza Tour (09/02/09) — http://i.feedtacoma.com/TDI-Reporters-Notebook/photos-pacific-plaza-tour-inside/

2. Inside Pacific Plaza: From blight to beauty, a $30 million downtown high-rise sets a new standard (09/02/09) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1616760&more=0 or http://www.wahmee.com/tdi_inside_pac_plaza.pdf

3. Outside Pacific Plaza: A garden grows high above downtown Tacoma (09/03/09) — http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=1617518&more=0 or http://www.wahmee.com/tdi_outside_pac_plaza.pdf