Hill’s gets new home

A restaurant that closed a year ago to make way for the demolition of half a block of downtown Spokane has found a new home.

Hill’s Investment Properties Inc. on Thursday paid $415,000 for a 5,400-square-foot building on the southwest corner of Main and Washington, across from Auntie’s bookstore. Steve Hill expects to reopen Hill’s Restaurant and Lounge in mid-July, he said. The Hill family bought the building from Ilene Goldstein of Arizona, who has owned it since the 1970s.

The restaurant’s name was Hill’s Someplace Else when it closed its West Sprague location in April, prior to several buildings on the block between Howard and Stevens being torn down. Property owner Wendell Reugh has been trying to sell the buildings on the so-called Rookery Block and said he would demolish them if he couldn’t find a buyer. Reugh’s general manager said last week the company still is looking for a buyer.

Some other restaurants and businesses on the block relocated, including Aki’s Grill and Sushi Express, Chicken-N-More and Spokane Coin Exchange. Others closed. But many downtown diners have wondered whether Hill’s would find a new spot, Steve Hill said.

“We get calls all the time,” he said, explaining that the restaurant retained its phone number and receives frequent inquiries about a new location. “There’s a lot of people waiting for us to come back.”

When it reopens, a few things will change. The name is slightly different, and a patio on Main will offer outdoor seating. Smoking will not be allowed inside. And the new restaurant will be slightly bigger, seating about 140 inside and 20 on the patio. The old Hill’s had 121 seats, Hill said. But the menu will be largely the same, with Steve’s brother, Dave Hill, as head chef.

In addition, Steve Hill said he and his family are still trying to design a new style for the building’s interior and exterior. They plan to add windows and re-paint everything, but aren’t sure beyond that, Hill said.

“We’re still tossing around ideas,” Hill said. “My mom’s in charge of the colors.”