Sea Mar Community Health Centers purchases downtown Tacoma site for $6.2 million

TACOMA, Wash. — A health entity recently invested in some Tacoma real estate with its purchase of a downtown building.

Seattle-based Sea Mar Community Health Centers has purchased the Merit Building, 615 S. Ninth Street in Tacoma, for $6.22 million.

The building’s namesake is tied to Merit Construction of Lakewood, founded by the late E.J. “Jimmy” Zarelli, and was built in 1975.

The seller was a Lakewood-based LLC representing Carl and Leonard Zarelli family LLCs.

According to a release announcing the sale, Sea Mar Community Health will occupy the top two floors, approximately 18,000 square feet, of the 3-story building. The first floor of the 28,050 square-foot building is leased to two other tenants.

Back in the early 1990s, the building played a key role in a county office space reshuffling to allow more room for criminal justice proceedings at the County-City Building, and for it to focus serving as a courthouse.

In recent years, promotional materials online showed either portions or the entire Merit Building available for tenants.

John Bauder and Harrison Laird of Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services represented the seller. Brian Petro of Horizon Real Estate Group represented Sea Mar.

Bauder and Laird also are involved in the current real estate offering of Tacoma’s Super Block, a collection of parcels consisting now of parking lots.

This story was originally published by The News Tribune.

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