Tumwater to buy brewery lodge for $1.85M, restore it to ‘a beautiful facility’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tumwater will buy former Pabst building for Parks and Recreation office space.
- City negotiated $1.565M purchase; total project cost set at $1.85M including remodel.
- Park impact fees and MPD funds will cover most costs; general fund covers $143,760.
The City of Tumwater has plans to purchase a piece of property tucked away in Tumwater Valley for permanent office space for the Parks and Recreation Department.
The building at 4315 Tumwater Valley Drive, commonly known as the Lodge Building, has seen a number of uses in its lifetime. Parks and Recreation Director Chuck Denney said during a Feb. 17 City Council meeting that the building was originally constructed in 1988 by the Olympia Brewery when it was owned by Pabst as a corporate retreat space and five-room hotel, before the Miller Brewing Company took it over. It was then a private daycare and school for more than 10 years.
The preschool Serendipity Academy now goes by the name Serendipity Children’s Center and is located just south of its former location, at 4841 and 4833 Tumwater Valley Drive.
According to council documents, the Parks and Recreation Department is currently leasing offices in a building near the Olympia Regional Airport. Administration, marketing, recreation, volunteer and arts staff share the office space.
Denney said the city is currently leasing offices for $8,305.34 per month, or $99,664.08 per year.
He said the city had a good relationship with the Miller company back when it was a corporate retreat center, and they would allow the Parks and Recreation Department to host events in the space.
He said once Miller left the city the property was sold to Serendipity and used for more than a decade as a child care center and youth private school. It’s now been empty for about a year, and the department is in need of a permanent home.
Denney said the building is just over 6,000 square feet inside and sits on 1.8 acres of land that has been let go and is now covered in Scotch broom and blackberry bushes. He said it’s centrally located and is a good fit for what his department does. The location is near the city’s golf course, brewery properties and the future Deschutes Valley Trail.
He said parks staff are already looking at restoring the grounds to their original state and “back into a beautiful facility like it was when the brewery owned it and took care of it.”
“I think it’s going to look really great,” Denney said. “It will take a little time, but it’ll look really, really great in the end.”
Denney said the building is in great shape and has a new roof and heating system. He said the asking price for the building was $2.2 million. The appraised value in April 2025 was $1.9 million.
Denney said the Thurston County Assessor has the value of the property listed at $1,815,200. The purchase price the city and Serendipity agreed on is $1,565,500.
Finance Director Troy Niemeyer said the department’s need to grow and have more space can be attributed to the City of Tumwater’s growth. He said this allows the department to use park impact fees and Metropolitan Park District money to help pay for the new space.
“That lessens the impact on the general fund, which is helpful for fund balance and everything else,” Niemeyer said.
The total price for the new space is $1,850,500. This includes a $285,000 remodel.
Park impact fees would cover $1,157,397. MPD funds would cover $548,843. The general fund would cover the remaining $143,760.
The Tumwater City Council unanimously approved the Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement. Denney told The Olympian on Feb. 20 that the city plans to close on the property in the next week.
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