Doctor Hopes To Develop Former Nursing Home Site In/Around: Downriver
A piece of prime riverfront land in northwest Spokane could become the site of a showdown between the city and a doctor who hopes to develop the property.
Dr. Hrair Garabedian has purchased 2.5 acres at 4401 W. Downriver Drive, formerly the site of the Riverpark Convalescent Center, for $215,000.
The land, which has panoramic views of the Spokane River and Riverside State Park, has been on the market since February.
The Spokane Parks and Recreation Department wanted to add the parcel to surrounding park land but was unable to find money, according to Paul Crutchfield, real estate manager for the department.
Rumors have circulated among developers that the city would “shut down” anyone who tried to beat the Parks Department to the land, according to Steve Peterson, the Windermere Real Estate agent who handled the sale.
“I had one prospective buyer who said, ‘(The city) will make it really rough on me if I wanted to do any (developing) again.”’
John Patterson, the Walla Walla banker who handled the property after the previous owner foreclosed, agrees.
“The city has been as difficult as possible in letting developers build there,” said Patterson.
City officials said they are not opposed to private development of the site and are merely doing their jobs.
“This is all news to me,” Crutchfield said when asked about concerns expressed by developers.
Garabedian, a cardiologist who owns Northwest Pediatric Cardiology, said he plans to develop the property but has not revealed any specifics other than to say it would be “first class.”
He said the city would be welcome to buy the land from him but he does not see any reason to fear bureaucratic hassles.
“This is the 1990s. They can’t just block you for the sake of blocking you,” Garabedian said.
Development would require cooperation from the city parks and water departments.
An easement granted to the convalescent home allowed access across park land from Downriver Drive via a road that is only 15 feet wide. That easement expired after the facility burned to the ground in a 1993 fire.
Development of the site could require a new access agreement allowing a road 30 feet wide. Such an easement would have to be approved by the Park Board, Crutchfield said.
The board could make stipulations on use.
Development would also require a new, eight-inch water line that would have to skirt Downriver Golf Course across the street, according to city Water Manager John Bjork. Laying the water line along that circuitous route would cost an estimated $50,000.
The current six-inch water line would be inadequate if the golf course were watering during a fire at the developed property, according to Bjork.
Peterson thinks the water line requirement is an artificial roadblock. He said a 1989 flow test, witnessed by a city water inspector, showed water pressure met the minimum standard for a subdivision.
Peterson noted that the six-inch line was enough for the 136-bed, four-floor convalescent facility. A building permit issued in 1990 for a planned expansion of the facility did not call for a bigger water line.
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