Mill River gets financial boost from LCDC

The Lake City Development Corp. will spend nearly $4 million to help jump-start two private development projects.

Most of the money — $3.4 million — will provide water, sewer lines and other public infrastructure to Mill River, a 100-acre planned development between Seltice Way and the Spokane River.

Another $368,400 will help a second developer build 22 high-end apartment units on Garden Avenue.

The new construction will provide makeovers for two areas of Coeur d’Alene that need a lift, Lake City Development board members said Wednesday as they approved the spending.

Mill River is “a great project,” said board member Jim Elder, “and the foundation of everything that happens within the district.”

Likewise, the apartments could become a catalyst for other new housing downtown, he said.

LCDC is the city’s urban renewal agency. Its mission is to encourage developers to invest in blighted areas. Funding for projects comes from tax-increment financing, a method of public funding through the use of urban renewal districts. As the districts’ property values increase, a portion of the increased tax revenues flows back to LCDC coffers.

When Crown Pacific closed its Coeur d’Alene sawmill in 2001, it left a vacant parcel of waterfront property. Developers Tom Johnson and Cliff Mort bought the land, with plans to create a Sanders Beach-style neighborhood there. The $100 million development call for homes, offices and a stretch of public beach

But Mill River needs city sewer and water service.

The $3.4 million will reimburse the developers for bringing water and sewer service to the site. The system they will install can be extended in the future to serve new development north of Interstate 90. The money also will be used for other public improvements. Some of the projects include trails through the development, upgrades to Seltice Way and beach improvements.

Dave Rucker is the developer for the Garden Avenue apartments, located behind the Roosevelt Inn bed and breakfast. The $368,400 also includes funds for water and sewer work, plus site preparation. Rucker’s property was once an old creamery. When the building was torn down, various materials went into the hole, and it isn’t a stable construction site, said Tony Berns, LCDC’s executive director.

Rucker plans to build craftsman-style apartments, with rents in the $800-per-month range.

“The land really needs reclamation, and there’s no way to develop it without reclamation,” said Paul Anderson, an LCDC board member.