Sonneland Holding To Goal Of Quality Offices At Quail Run

Dr. John Sonneland, a surgeon and former candidate for Congress, has pursued a third role as a South Hill developer for six years now.

Sonneland’s Quail Run business park is largely unbuilt. Only one office building out of seven proposed buildings has been completed on the seven-acre campus.

“I’m a patient guy,” Sonneland said this week.

Part of the reason Quail Run has been slow to develop is a lack of demand for class-A office space on the South Hill, he said.

Sonneland said he’s had a hard time attracting tenants to an upscale office park when rents in downtown Spokane are lower.

Even so, the first building has been occupied for 10 months now. Tenants include financial consultants, an oral surgery practice and a physical therapist.

Sonneland won’t disclose how much money he’s invested at Quail Run, but he said the current lease income is enough for him to break even on his monthly expenses.

The former five-time Republican nominee for Congress said he wants Quail Run to be a quality development, and that as much as anything is slowing its progress.

“If you want it to move faster, you have to lower your standards,” he said. “We like to think ours is the only class-A office space on the South Hill.”

Sonneland said he’s rejected offers from a filling station and a couple of restaurants he felt wouldn’t work well in the campuslike business park he hopes to complete in three phases.

But Sonneland is also running into problems at City Hall because he is asking the city to change the plans for the second time.

The land originally was platted for homes when Sonneland first owned it. He and his wife, Holly, bought the property 20 years ago.

In 1991 Sonneland won his original zone change from residential to office designation for the Quail Run park. He first went back to the city in 1993 and was granted changes in the design.

Under the 1993 action, the city allowed Sonneland to eliminate Crestline Street through the middle of the project in exchange for building a new Stone Street to the east.

The city put a 24-inch water main beneath Stone street.

Now, Sonneland is asking the city to remove Stone Street from the development, but he would give the city a permanent easement for access to the water line.

City officials are resisting Sonneland’s request. The City Council so far has declined to vacate Stone Street.

“It’s part of the street system, and we think it is needed,” said Andrew Worlock, the city planner overseeing Sonneland’s proposal.

Stone Street is also designated as part of the city’s system of bike routes, he said.

Sonneland wants to eliminate Stone Street because he bought a piece of property on 29th Avenue just east of Stone. He wants to incorporate that parcel into the Quail Run park and is marketing the property as a restaurant site.

However, Sonneland needs a zone change because the land currently is designated for residential use. The city’s hearing examiner won’t consider a zone change until the City Council rules on the street issue.

Eliminating Stone would allow him to design the parking lot to accommodate the restaurant and nearby tenants as a single business park, Sonneland said.

In all, Sonneland wants to build three more office buildings of 4,800- to 10,000-square feet. His plan also envisions two restaurants, including the one east of Stone, and a bank branch building.

, DataTimes