City intervention gains support

Spokane City Council President Dennis Hession has thrown his support behind possible city intervention to save the threatened Rookery and Mohawk buildings on Riverside Avenue downtown.

“If there is a way for the city to be involved, I am in favor of it,” Hession said Tuesday.

Hession’s support could be pivotal since he is considered the most likely replacement for Mayor Jim West should West be recalled by voters Dec. 6.

On Monday, attorney and former City Councilman Steve Eugster, representing the Spokane Preservation Advocates organization, proposed reviving the city’s public development authority as a mechanism for city involvement in redevelopment of the aged buildings.

It would be the same city-sponsored entity that was involved in a failed public-private parking garage at River Park Square downtown.

Some officials at City Hall, including Mayor West, said the financial damage from RPS may quell public support for another public-private venture involving the 1934 Rookery and 1915 Mohawk.

Owner Wendell Reugh has said he wants to tear down the buildings this fall unless a buyer meets his $5.6 million asking price within the next few weeks. Reugh would turn the site into a surface Diamond parking lot.

Hession said the loss to downtown would be enormous and justify the risk of city involvement. He said he believes the site would remain a parking lot for many years if the buildings are demolished.

The public development authority could seek friendly condemnation of the buildings and provide tax-exempt financing to reduce development costs, Eugster said. It also could sell revenue bonds to provide funds until condominium portions of the redevelopment are completed and sold, he told the council Monday.

“I believe it would work,” Eugster said. “It’s a political decision on your part. Do we care or don’t we care?”

According to West, Reugh “may not have the patience” to wait for a city venture to gain political approval. But West acknowledged that condemnation might be possible at Reugh’s $5.6 million asking price.

Reugh demolished the 1890 Merton Block building at the northeast corner of Sprague and Howard last November after bringing down a group of adjacent smaller buildings along Sprague Avenue earlier in 2004. Following the demolitions, Reugh increased his asking price for the group of properties on the block from $4.5 million to $5.6 million.

For nearly a year, developer Ron Wells has been seeking investment partners to convert the two remaining buildings into a mixed-use commercial and residential complex. Wells has a history of successful redevelopments, including Steam Plant Square downtown.

Under one option, the public development authority could be used to finance a parking structure for the redevelopment on the site bounded on three sides by Riverside Avenue, Howard Street and Sprague Avenue. The Ridpath Hotel is located across Sprague Avenue to the south.

Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers, a long-standing supporter of historic preservation but also a harsh critic of the RPS deal, said she remains open-minded about city involvement in the Rookery and Mohawk buildings. “I’ll take a look at anything they bring back,” she said.

Joanne Moyer, former president of the preservation advocates group, said, “We can’t keep cutting the heart out of the middle of downtown.” Moyer said she asked for Eugster’s legal help on behalf of her group, and indicated that he would be paid by the organization.

West said he and his staff have been working with Reugh and potential purchasers for more than a year on ways to save the two buildings, but the city doesn’t have enough cash to purchase the properties.

Roof repairs are needed before winter, West said, which is one reason Reugh wants to demolish the structures this fall.

Hession said the council is likely to consider a resolution at its next regular meeting Monday. The resolution would endorse the idea of exploring city intervention, he said.