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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Construction of apartments at Kendall Yards to begin soon

The square footage of the Kendall Yards apartments project comes to 92,000 square feet. The number was corrected Wednesday Aug. 22.

Work on an 84-unit Kendall Yards apartment building will start in 30 days, the head of developer Greenstone Corp. said Tuesday.

The building, called The Highline Apartments, will move the mixed-use Kendall Yards area near downtown closer to an urban “town center” character, Greenstone CEO Jim Frank said.

So far, 78 residential units have been completed or are in progress in Kendall Yards, which sits on nearly 80 acres west of Monroe Street on the north edge of the Spokane River. Fifty-eight of those units are occupied.

The 92,000-square-foot cluster of six buildings will have two- and three-bedroom units.

The rental rates haven’t been set, Frank said, but they will fall near “current market” levels.

Each unit will have one parking space; most parking will be in the buildings, but 12 spaces will be added in a nearby satellite structure.

The Kendall Yards plan includes a smaller later-phase apartment complex with 24 apartments above ground-level retail spaces.

That building – which looks to start sometime in 2013 – will offer no garage parking at all, a concept that will be foreign to Spokane residents, Frank said.

“We’ll go slow with that (concept),” he added. “You have to pace yourself” introducing a no-parking approach, he said.

The first Kendall Yards commercial building, the Cedar Park Plaza, is under construction south of the Washington State Court of Appeals. It will house a new restaurant operated by local chef David Blaine.

Work will start soon on a second commercial building east of the Cedar Park Plaza that will include a new health spa and office.

Greenstone began developing the Kendall Yards project in 2010, taking over the development started by Marshall Chesrown.

Frank said discussions continue with area supermarket companies about locating in Kendall Yards. He said the apartments won’t be the critical component in getting a supermarket.

“They’re helpful, in giving the area another 84 units. But those 84 units won’t make or break a grocery store,” Frank said.

The larger concern expressed by food retailers is having adequate parking. “If not for the parking concern, we’d have a grocer already signed,” Frank said.

City construction permits estimate construction for the apartments at just over $9 million. Frank estimated the units will be ready for occupancy in spring 2013.