Office Park Planned Close To State Line

Centennial Trail users might get a change of scenery just west of the state line if a proposed 28-acre office park goes forward.

The owner of the land, Thomas Murphy of Hayden Lake, Idaho, and developers plan to create Rivercrossing Industrial Office Park just north of Interstate 90, between the Port of Entry station and the Spokane River.

Plans are for a high-tech office park, similar to Hewlett-Packard’s Liberty Lake campus. The land is perfect for development, halfway between Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, Murphy said.

Neither the number of buildings nor the type of business or businesses that might occupy them have been specified yet. “It’s all in theory right now,” Murphy said.

Development plans also include moving a portion of the Centennial Trail closer to the Spokane River. Currently the trail dumps onto Old Spokane Bridge Road for a short stretch before jumping back onto the trail on the other side of Spokane Road.

The Washington Parks and Recreation Commission, which manages the trail, supports rerouting it.

“The actual name of this facility is the Spokane River Centennial Trail,” said Bill Fraser, the commission’s regional planner in Wenatchee. “We’re continually trying to get the trail along the river corridor. This project, if approved, is consistent with the vision of the Centennial Trail.”

While no clear path has been charted for the property - parcels of land are up for sale to any buyer - developers and the owner would like to see some sort of commercial development, said property broker Rocky Rothrock, of Crowley Commercial Real Estate.

In 1982, plans were announced to put a motel on the property once it got a proper rezone. The Spokane County Parks Department expressed interest in the land, but never pursued it because of the $4 million price tag.

Last year, county parks director Wyn Birkenthal learned the property was up for sale. He sent letters to other agencies asking if they would be willing to help buy the land at its $4 million price tag.

The property sitting at the Washington state border would have been perfect as a natural entrance to the state, he said.

“It sure would be nice to show off a picture of the Spokane River from the highway, unfettered without commercial development,” Birkenthal said, adding the trail running past a commercial development on one side wouldn’t be the same.

But $4 million for the property was too rich for most agencies’ blood. Interest died.

“I think it’s probably a dead issue,” Birkenthal said.

Spokane County planners have recommended denial of the project because they say the plan is not consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan, a blueprint for the county’s growth.

Rezone hearing A public hearing on a proposed rezone of 28 acres between Interstate 90 and the Spokane River, just west of the state line, for development as an industrial office park will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the lower level of the Spokane County Public Works Building, 1026 W. Jefferson.