- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Real Estate
The Puyallup Tribe of Indians has received a 22,000-square-foot community building as a donation from its former owners.
The building — called Alma Mater and later Alma — was conveyed by its holding company, Alma LLC, according to a Puyallup Tribe statement. The transfer was finalized on July 28. According to a report by The News Tribune, county records valued the building at $3.28 million. The tribe is considering how to use the building, according to the statement.
“The tribe has long endured people taking land from us and having to fight at every turn. It is simply unprecedented for a gift of this size to be freely given to us,” the tribe wrote. “It is a blessing to the entire community that so many of us share the same values. We raise our hands to all the people who made this happen.”
The building operated as a "creative incubator" from 2018 until closing in 2023, according to the tribe's statement. It closed after its primary financier, Bentonville, Arkansas-based social impact nonprofit Wend Ii, pulled funding, according to The News Tribune.
Indigenous-led nonprofit Anpo facilitated the transfer to the tribe after the building sat vacant, according to the press release. Anpo supports land return and community revitalization projects
“The Puyallup people have always been stewards of the land, water, and salmon—not just for their own community, but for all who call this place home,” said Jodi Archambault, founding president and CEO of Anpo. “This gift recognizes that deep responsibility and honors a truth that’s long been known here: when Indigenous leadership thrives, the whole region benefits.”
The Puyallup Tribe has pursued aggressive economic diversification in recent years, launching Tahoma Construction Services to handle internal projects and compete for federal contracts, partnering with the Northwest Seaport Alliance on a $200 million international shipping terminal, investing in clean energy through a partnership with Skip Technology to manufacture lithium-free flow batteries, and acquiring AMES International, a Fife-based candy maker.
