Wells among bidders for Y
Three plans submitted for the park building
The Spokane City Council has three development plans to add to the YMCA mix.
The city received three proposals for the vacant Y by the 5 p.m. Friday deadline, said Rick Romero, Spokane’s internal auditor. He said the city will not release details about the plans until next week, but Spokane developer Ron Wells confirmed Friday that one of the plans was his.
Spokane City Council members face a March 31 deadline to decide if they want the old YMCA to be torn down and incorporated into Riverfront Park or if they prefer private development on the site.
Controversy has swirled around the Y since 2006, when a developer offered $5.3 million to buy the property to build condominiums. The Spokane Park Board intervened, offering the same price for the land and paying a $1 million down payment.
In 2008, the board won support from Spokane County’s park board to use Conservation Futures property taxes to pay the rest. The Spokane City Council, however, has blocked the park board’s effort to add the property to Riverfront Park and voted last year to complete the purchase by borrowing $4.3 million from a reserve fund dedicated to trash service. The council also decided to explore the possible sale or long-term lease of the building to a private developer.
Spokane County commissioners, who have the final say on the Conservation Futures program, have set a March 31 deadline for the City Council to accept their offer to use the funds.
Wells said he hopes to convert the top three floors into apartments and the ground floor into space for Spokane Public Radio, although Spokane Public Radio has not signed on to the project. He has requested to lease the building for 50 years and said he has an offer from a New York mortgage banker to finance a $5 million renovation of the site. After his expenses are covered, the city would get 80 percent of the cash flow.
“That’s how they get paid back for the debt,” Wells said in an interview Friday. He added that he didn’t have the plan in front of him to confirm how many years it would take for the city to repay its $5.3 million debt.
Spokane Park Board member Randy Cameron warned that city officials must carefully consider what would happen if the proposals don’t meet profit expectations.
“It’s a real risky proposition when you’ve got so much vacant square footage right in the middle of downtown,” Cameron said. “It’s not Monopoly, and they don’t get to lean on the taxpayers’ dollars.”
Spokane Public Radio President and General Manager Richard Kunkel said the Y is one of many options for a new studio. Station officials are examining the finances of a move to the Y, and added that they’ll consider public opinion, too.
“We’re listening to the comments, but truthfully, there have not been an awful lot of them,” Kunkel said.