Greenstone will pump $500 million into Kendall Yards

Greenstone Corp. will invest $500 million in the revived Kendall Yards project over the next 15 years, President Jason Wheatley said Thursday. The company assumed $20 million in debt to acquire the property from former owner Marshall Chesrown, he said, adding that loan terms had been modified to help get the project restarted. Wheaton said construction will get under way next year. The first townhouses will be ready for occupancy in early 2011 on a piece of the 78-acre site just west of Maple Street, he said. Wheaton said Kendall Yards will strive for certification as an environmentally friendly, sustainable development rimmed by a “world-class” extension of the Centennial Trail on the Spokane River’s north bank. Mayor Mary Verner praised Greenstone’s approach and welcomed both the effect the development will have on the West Central neighborhood and the boost it will give to a sluggish local economy. “This project has everything Spokane is looking for,” she said. Wheaton said Greenstone is also talking to several parties interested in the commercial portion of the project nearer downtown, but added that construction before 2011 is unlikely.