Genesee Block revamp to yeild for retail space, apartments

A historic building had some not-so-historic storefronts ripped from its facade this week, preparation for two leasable spaces expected to open as early as this winter.

The two, 2,000-square-foot retail spaces in the Genesee Block, built in 1892 at 819 and 821 W. Riverside Ave., have full basements. One of them includes a mezzanine. The building will also include four high-end apartments upstairs, each around 930 square feet.

Mike Craven, president of the Craven Company, the project’s developer and general contractor, said the apartments will be available to rent in January, but he hasn’t determined the monthly price.

Craven said the retail units are available for lease but he has no tenants yet. He said they could accommodate a restaurant or a “soft goods” retailer selling items such as clothing and bedding. The 125-year-old building is one of the few remaining structures built in the years just after the Great Fire of 1889 and has had many different tenants over the years. They include a grocery and dry goods store, a hat maker, Carlson Furs, Mister Lee’s Spokane Beauty School and a Subway sandwich restaurant.

The rehabilitation was previously reported to be a $700,000 project, but a fire set in the building in November, which appeared to be arson, set the project back in time and cost. Craven declined to disclose the project’s current cost, but said the fire did no permanent damage. The storefronts will be replaced with others that look more historic, Craven said.

Spokane-based Uptic Studios did the architecture. The structural engineering was done by DCI Engineers, also of Spokane.