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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

City asking for Rookery, Mohawk bids

Spokane city officials on Friday issued a request for proposals from developers to purchase the threatened Rookery and Mohawk buildings on Riverside Avenue downtown.

Requests for proposals, or bids, to purchase the property through the city will be accepted for one month.

At least one developer with experience in historic renovation said Friday that he plans to submit a proposal in time for the deadline.

“We are going to present a phased project,” said developer Ron Wells.

The phases involve renovation of the two historic buildings that run along Riverside Avenue and Howard Street. Subsequent phases could involve construction of new buildings along Howard Street and Sprague Avenue to complement the historic properties.

Wells said he and other investors plan to raise $5 million in cash to acquire the property, which is being offered at a negotiated price of $4.8 million. He said the plan calls for using commercial bank financing to pay for renovation and new construction of what is expected to become a combined residential and commercial complex.

“We feel like we are getting close to our goal,” Wells said. Legal documents were being drafted to create a limited liability corporation to become owner, he said.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a purchase and sale agreement between the city and property owner Wendell Reugh, who had started demolition of the buildings last fall before the city stepped in and negotiated a sale price of $4.75 million. The deal is contingent on the city finding a qualified buyer.

Council members last month voted in favor of allowing the city to purchase the property, which includes several vacant pieces along Sprague and Howard, and then simultaneously seek private developers to buy the property. The plan is to avoid risking any city tax funds in the transaction.

For more than a year, preservationists in Spokane campaigned to save the buildings by lobbying city officials, buying newspaper advertising and demonstrating on the sidewalks along the 1934 Rookery and 1915 Mohawk buildings. An initial round of demolitions in 2004 saw the toppling of smaller buildings on Sprague Avenue as well as the razing of the 1890 Merton Block building at Sprague and Howard.

Initially, Mayor Dennis Hession, while serving as council president last year, asked City Council colleagues to let the city purchase the property directly from Reugh and then resell it over a period of some months. But council members balked at the idea of taking possession of the property without first receiving a commitment for private repurchase. They were concerned about the risk to city funds.

The sale price of $4.75 million negotiated between Hession and Reugh was increased by $80,000 to pay off a demolition contract on the buildings. Wells has said that holes punched in the sides of the buildings and other demolition work can be restored.