CenterStage dispute settled
The owners of the downtown CenterStage building and the group running an arts center and business there have ended an 11-month battle over a property lease.
The dispute goes back to January 2004 when the building owner, Odd Girls LLC of Seattle, told its tenants that a 20-year lease was invalid and threatened eviction.
Tim Behrens and Leslie Grove, two of the managing directors of CenterStage, insisted the lease was valid. CenterStage, a nonprofit corporation, operates the three-story building at 1017 W. First as a performing arts center.
CenterStage went to court in May this year to seek a judgment against Odd Girls and halt the threatened eviction.
The settlement, announced last week, halted the legal wrangling and provides CenterStage with a 15-year lease, according to Steve Elliott, general manager for Odd Girls LLC.
Elliott said the dispute stemmed from the owners’ belief that the terms of the lease had been too generous to CenterStage and were improperly negotiated by a former employee.
The three-story building is one of several businesses in that area of downtown Spokane owned by Odd Girls LLC, whose key partners are Wade Ballinger and Ann Wyman. The structure is the former Oddfellows Building. Other properties on the block owned by Odd Girls include the Madison Apartments, the Brooklyn Deli building, and the old Music City building
“We’re pleased that we’ve reached a settlement and the terms are very acceptable to us,” said Behrens.
The settlement means CenterStage can continue operating and expanding its offerings, Behrens said.
CenterStage has become a performing arts focal point for downtown. The building and its nonprofit board will generate more than $900,000 this year hosting live music and theater, running Ella’s jazz club, and through catering and event management.
The building, however, is still not profitable. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” Behrens said.
Elliott said the block will continue moving toward mixed-use development, with lofts, some retail and office space interspersed around CenterStage.
“A key part will be what happens with the Fox and the symphony’s plans to use that theater,” he said. If the symphony successfully moves operations to the Fox, at the corner of Monroe and First, future projects will gain momentum, Eliott said.
Business writer Tom Sowa can be reached at (509) 459-5492 or at toms@spokesman.com.