Developer offers Stimson mill swap

Stalled plans for a higher education corridor along the Spokane River leaped ahead Monday with developer Marshall Chesrown’s announcement that he has a working agreement to purchase Stimson Lumber Co.’s two waterfront mills.

In a deal brokered by Chesrown, the two sawmills and their 200 employees would be relocated to Hauser, Idaho, to a state-of-the-art facility that Chesrown would build. Then he would swap the new mill for Stimson’s 80 acres along the Spokane River.

Part of the 80 acres would be used to expand the North Idaho College campus and branch campuses of state universities. Chesrown would privately develop the rest of the property, which includes about 1½ miles of shoreline.

For years, community leaders have dreamed about a new vision for the stretch of noisy industrial waterfront.

“It didn’t seem to me like it was progressing,” Chesrown said Monday night. “I think everybody was looking to Stimson to be the white knight. I don’t think they should have to be in a position to do that.”

Several months ago, Chesrown jumped into the game, meeting privately with Andrew Miller, Stimson’s chief executive officer, and hammering out an agreement.

The two men declined to put a value on the transaction. In the past, however, Stimson has estimated that it would need $10 million to relocate the DeArmond mill, which is North Idaho College’s neighbor. The college butts up against the mill, and the smell of sawdust and the sound of machinery often wafts across the campus. Stimson also owns the Atlas Mill on Seltice Way.

To make the relocation pencil out, Chesrown said he’ll have to recoup the new sawmill’s cost by profiting from the waterfront developments. Chesrown’s other developments include the Club at Black Rock, an exclusive golf community on Lake Coeur d’Alene, and Legacy Ridge in Liberty Lake.

Working with a single player, instead of multiple government agencies, made it easier to execute a deal, Miller said. “Absent their involvement, it wasn’t happening.”

The two men hope to reach a firm agreement by the end of the year. Stimson already owns a small sawmill in Hauser, near the railroad tracks that the company needs for shipping. If all goes smoothly, Stimson employees could move into the new facility by the spring of 2007, allowing demolition of the existing mills to begin.

“I think it’s great for the city, and great for Stimson,” Miller said. “It frees up the land for the long-term vision of converting this industrial area to a place of education, high-tech and housing.”

Miller inherited negotiations over the educational corridor when Stimson bought the two mills from Idaho Forest Industries four years ago. Development has since sprouted on either side of the sawmills. Tugboats delivering logs glide by sleek office buildings and land targeted for a mix of retail and residential use.

The development is occurring on land that was also once occupied by sawmills.

“Fifty years ago, it was all sawmills,” Miller said.

The deal gives the city the best of both worlds, said Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem. The city’s intent has always been to preserve the Stimson jobs, while creating a spot for colleges and universities to expand, she said.

“It’s a huge step forward,” NIC spokesman Kent Propst said Monday night.

NIC learned of the working agreement from a surprise press release. The proposal is so new that the college has many questions, he said. Players in education are wondering how much land will be left for them, and at what cost, Propst said.

“We don’t have that kind of money laying around for discretionary funding,” he said.

The educational corridor also involves the University of Idaho, Lewis-Clark State College, and Idaho State University. The colleges are working with Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency to create a master plan for the corridor.

Chesrown said he’ll meet with the various parties in the future. At this time, he envisions the educational corridor locating on the DeArmond mill site, which is 17 acres. Some of the DeArmond site could also be used for private development, Chesrown said.

He pictures the Atlas Mill as private development. Part of the work ahead, however, is to develop a master plan for the 80 acres.

“With these two mills gone … we really have the opportunity to do a lot of things,” Chesrown said.

The character of the area will change, he said. Railroad tracks used by the mills will disappear. So will the pilings on the Spokane River, and log booms used for storage on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

“We’re talking about what the riverfront will look like,” Bloem said of the master planning effort.

“I think we can look 100 years down the road,” she said. “How will we plan it best for our children and grandchildren and future generations to enjoy?”