Two new condos set for downtown

Another block of downtown Spokane is about to undergo a transformation, adding to the mix of housing and retail projects gradually spreading across the city’s core.

Starting in February, two buildings on the southwest corner of the block bounded by First Avenue, Monroe and Madison streets, and the railroad viaduct will be demolished. In another building on the block, dubbed 1016 Rail Side Center, construction will begin on 14 condominiums, slated to be ready for occupancy by the fall. In the summer, construction will begin on another set of 14 to 18 condominiums in the old Music City building, at 1011 W. First Ave.

The project is being developed by Spokane Partners LLC at an eventual cost of up to $25 million, said managing partner Steve Elliott. It eventually will include new condominiums, additional parking and retail space and upgraded apartments, Elliott said. The corporation’s majority owner is Anne Wyman of Seattle.

“We want it to be alive and active as a place to go and do things and be a great spot for Spokane,” Elliott said.

General contractor RenCorp, of Spokane, is working with nationally acclaimed architect Tom Kundig. Originally of Spokane and a principal with Olson Sundberg Kundig and Allen Architects of Seattle, Kundig is a finalist for the 2005 National Design Award for Architecture, sponsored by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

“When you buy one of these units, you buy a home from an architect that’s internationally renowned. You really wind up buying a piece of art,” said Chris Batten, a principal with RenCorp. “That’s really the defining story with this project. It’s going to be one of the coolest projects out there, but we’re going to bring it in at a price point that’s ultimately below almost anything else that’s on the market.”

The 1016 Rail Side condominiums are being developed in the former Washington Rubber Building, just west of the Brooklyn Deli. They range in size from 700 to 1,800 square feet and in price from $187,500 to under $500,000. Size ranges and prices for the Music City building condos have not been determined yet, Elliott said.

Many recently announced downtown condominium projects are offering units at prices starting around $500,000. However, developer Ron Wells’ Morgan Building condominiums are being offered at prices starting at $225,000 for 640 square feet. RenCorp’s Jefferson Street Auto Lofts sold out quickly at prices starting around $160,000.

Rail Side Center appears to be following suit, revealing the demand for downtown residences at lower prices. After three weeks of sales, six of the 14 condos at 1016 Rail Side are reserved, Batten said. Most of the buyers are Spokane residents who want to live downtown, he said.

“That pool doesn’t seem to be running dry anytime soon,” Batten said. “I do think we could go outside of Spokane and sell these, advertise and market them in larger markets, but we haven’t seen that level of interest drop off.”

Other retail tenants on the block say they’ve been watching and waiting for the project to come together.

“I hope it works out,” said April Dunbar, who has co-owned the Handy Market on the corner of Madison and First for 33 years. She said the criminal element that has taken over parts of the neighborhood has been an obstacle to attracting people who want to shop and enjoy entertainment. “I hope it goes back to how we remember it, as a good family neighborhood where anybody could walk around, day or night.”

The block has been slowly returning to life, with developer Rob Brewster’s renovation and opening of the Montvale Hotel; lively music, dining and performances at Center Stage, and the appearance of new art galleries and shops along First. The owners of the Brooklyn Deli plan to open a bar, Brooklyn Nights, just across the hallway from their popular restaurant in a space formerly occupied by The Spike coffee shop. Co-owner Jody Harville said she’s looking forward to more people living on the block.

“It’ll bring us more business and we’re happy to have folks that will be living down here,” said Harville, who owns the deli with her daughter, Linda Shepard. “I’m glad it’s finally in the works.”

On the southwestern corner of the block, behind the Madison Apartment building, two buildings will be demolished in February, making way temporarily for a surface parking lot to serve the new condominiums. Within a few years, however, the property owners plan to build a structure up to eight stories high, to include ground-floor retail, with parking and housing on the floors above, Elliott said.

In addition, with the next 18 months, Elliott said, Spokane Partners will develop a plan to upgrade the Madison Apartment building, currently home to many low-income residents. Elliott says the building is likely to remain apartments, but he doesn’t know how much they’ll cost.

“We hope to have some mid-range apartments on the block to supply the needs of the downtown labor force,” Elliott said. “We’ll have all sorts of different people in there, but it will be a little different than it is now. It may not be servicing the low-income and disadvantaged, although it may, I don’t know. It may stay how it is, to a degree, although I’m sure we’ll upgrade it.”