On top of spaghetti: condos
These high-end condos will cost more than a “penne,” but they’ll serve up luxury living in the center of downtown Spokane.
Marty and Jennifer Hogberg, the owners of Luigi’s Italian Restaurant, are planning to turn the upper floors of their 83-year-old building at 245 W. Main into six condominiums. They’ll also add 29 below-ground parking spaces and a rooftop terrace for wedding receptions and banquets. Parts of the restaurant, including the bar and meeting rooms, also are slated for remodeling.
“We need people living downtown that are making good incomes,” Marty Hogberg said. “This is the beginning of the future of downtown.”
Financing is still being arranged, pending an appraisal by a Seattle firm. However, the Hogbergs hope to begin construction by September and finish the $1.7 million project by mid-2005. The condos — located a block from the Spokane Convention Center and Riverfront Park — will offer 1,700 to 2,300 square feet of space and cost from $350,000 to more than $500,000.
Instead of dividing up the 27,000-square-foot building by floor, the plan by Integrus Architecture calls for vertical, multi-storied condos, almost like townhouses above the first-floor restaurant. Two of the units will use the second, third and fourth floors. Another will use the third and fourth floors, and the last two will be single-story flats. The building’s fourth floor will be created by enclosing part of the rooftop.
The remaining 3,600 square feet of the rooftop will be transformed into a terrace and garden that will accommodate 150-200 people for wedding receptions and banquets. The terrace likely will include retractable awnings and possibly a glassed-in atrium area.
The Salvation Army building was designed by architect Archibald Rigg and built by general contractor Frederick Phair in 1921, according to Spokane’s Historic Preservation Department. The building doubled as the social service organization’s first permanent headquarters in Spokane and as a single-room occupancy hotel known as the Red Shield. The individual rooms are still evident in the building’s upper floors.
The building is listed on the local, state and national registers of historic places, which provides property tax relief and tax credits for renovation projects. The description of it on the Historic Preservation Department Web site says: “It housed itinerant men and boys for nearly 60 years, and was the site for church services, boys clubs, free health and legal services, and war relief efforts.”
The Hogbergs bought the building for $500,000 in November 1999 after their former restaurant, which they leased on Bernard Street, was destroyed in a fire in May 1998. After being out of business for more than two years, Luigi’s reopened in July 2000 in the remodeled building. Marty Hogberg said he always used to look over at the Salvation Army building during the 10 years he operated Luigi’s across the street.
“My dream was to own this building,” Marty Hogberg said. “I could envision what it could be.”
Hogberg’s vision for the condos includes marble countertops, hardwood floors, and stainless steel appliances. Condo owners will have access to two elevators and will be able to purchase two parking spaces in the below-ground garage. Cars will enter and exit the garage via Main Street, in the space between Luigi’s and School District 81’s parking lot.
Prospective owners already have expressed interest in three of the units, Hogberg said, demonstrating the high demand for downtown living. The Blue Chip Lofts, an 11-unit development off First and Adams, with prices ranging from $138,000 to $300,000, sold out last year before any of the interior remodeling began. Also, a study commissioned by downtown advocates recently predicted demand for up to 1,500 market-rate units in the city’s core in the next five years.
Simultaneous with the condo development, Luigi’s bar and meeting rooms will be upgraded. The Hogbergs plan to extend the bar toward the back of the restaurant, to add more room for large groups. They’ll enclose a space off the lobby for a “roundtable” room for board meetings. And they plan to upgrade their regular banquet room with a look that’s more similar to the restaurant. Off the west side of the building, they’ll add an outdoor patio, with seating for 30.