TACOMA, Wash. — The former Rock Revival Center building on North Warner Street may look like an abandoned church building, but for the Cains, they see potential.
"I'm excited," said Julie Cain, the building’s co-owner. “We love the layout, we love the space. It's going to be really fun."
The couple bought the building three years ago, and plan to convert the space into affordable housing for Tacoma, something the city badly needs.
The building is slated to hold at least 30 residents, but the Cains are focusing this new project on a specific demographic: people 18 to 26 years old.
The Cains said they're working on a similar young adult housing facility at a former church in Port Orchard, scheduled to open this September. The couple said the building needs extensive renovations to bring it up to code, but they're hoping to open the doors by next summer.
"It's about launching young adults well, and affordable housing is a piece of that puzzle," said Andrew Cain.
As a school administrator in Port Orchard at Cedar Heights Middle School, Andrew Cain said he has seen just how important housing is.
"It's essential,” he said. “All day long I see kids coming from insecurity and how that effects them from making positive life choices."
In addition to housing, Andrew Cain said residents would get access to mentors with the goal of creating community that helps young people grow into positive members of society.
“We want to foster leaders in our community,” Andrew Cain said. “We want to foster the teachers, the policemen, the firemen, the architects, you name the career that would come out of this. Just good people who understand that they have a responsibility to their community and that they give back when it’s their turn.”