Mayor has no desire to become a land baron

The city of Spokane owns 1,650 real estate parcels. About. In fact, city officials do not know exactly what land they own, or which department owns what. Dave Mandyke, deputy director of the city’s Public Works & Utilities Department, says employees have sometimes tried to compile a comprehensive list on paper, but could never catch up. A computerized version that will be easier to update should be ready soon. Its completion will support what has already become a more dynamic approach to real estate management under new Mayor Jim West. Although last week’s decision to keep City Hall in City Hall has taken one of his bolder proposals off the table, other deals are in the wind, or done. “We don’t need to be holding property,” he says. West would rather the city hold cash. Spokane’s financial reserves are inadequate, he says, and the proceeds from land sales would help shore up those reserves. He opposes the sale of property just to generate money for ongoing operations. Selling park land is not an option, either. But city-owned lands pay no property taxes. They do collect weeds. West says Spokane’s real estate portfolio includes plots acquired just to secure needed right of way. Adjacent landowners might take them just to eliminate an eyesore harmful to their own properties. Even if the returns are minimal, the weed problem gets abated and someone starts paying taxes on the land. One example, the parcel on the left side of Monroe Street as it bends right to go up the North Hill, will be offered for sale soon, Mandyke says. Also about to go on the block is a 23-acre chunk in the Albion Heights area on Sunset Hill. Rocky, but with a view, most of the parcel has been in city hands since foreclosure on a failed local improvement district 40 years ago. The rest was picked up in 1979. An attempt to unload it two years ago failed. Other potential candidates for disposal are about 35 rental properties, some acquired as a buffer around the North Side Landfill. “If you own rentals, you should get rid of them,” Mandyke says. The lot now occupied by Fire Station No. 4 on downtown’s western edge will go soon, too. But those would be small deals compared with those West would like to get done, like selling the 50 acres encompassing Joe Albi Stadium. West says he’s not sure why the city owns the field and associated parking lots off Northwest Boulevard. “The city doesn’t have a football team,” he says with a trace of sarcasm. Albi needs new turf and new locker rooms. Crowds rarely fill its nearly 30,000 seats. Neighbors do not want concerts or other noisy events. “We can’t maximize our income off that property,” West says, sounding like a seasoned property manager. Better to sell it for housing that will bring more families into the city. And put those valuable acres on the tax rolls. In part to replace Albi in the event of a future sale, the city snapped up the former Playfair Race Course in what must be counted one of the most opportunistic purchases in recent city history. The deal was negotiated by West and approved by the City Council in less than one month. Turbulator, the favorite horse of Playfair’s vanished railbirds, could not have circled that track any faster. For $6.3 million, the city got 63 acres between Trent and Sprague and close to a future interchange between Interstate 90 and the long, long proposed North-South Freeway. One-third of the land will be set aside for tanks to hold stormwater runoff until volume subsides enough to send it on to the wastewater treatment plant. The rest of the site would be dedicated to athletic fields, including a small football stadium to replace Albi. So far, however, West has not sold local school districts on the idea. Too bad, considering how central the location is for most Greater Spokane League schools. West says the city also had no luck enticing FedEx to purchase the five acres occupied by city shops on North Normandie. The parcel was too small, he says, adding “that’s prime real estate.” Maybe semi-prime. City Hall, now that’s prime. But West’s political instincts took over, and wisely so, when he had to decide whether he could justify its sale and the purchase of the larger Metropolitan Financial Center. The city will eventually need the additional space, but the cost of carrying excess square footage in the near term doesn’t make sense when the city is contending with a budget shortfall. Better streets are a higher priority. The decision was a blow to those who hoped city takeover of the Metropolitan building would absorb surplus downtown office space. Still, Kiemle & Hagood Vice President Larry Soehren says he sees officials finally looking at the city’s real estate assets strategically, and enterprisingly. “Being entrepreneurial in the past has been difficult for them,” he says. “I think everybody is encouraged by the way Jim and his administration are looking at real estate.” West says passing on the Metropolitan deal will at least give Public Works & Utilities time to finish the property list. With that in hand, things could get serious.