Project to relocate historic Rose Apartments progresses

The East Central Community Organization’s plans to relocate the historic Rose Apartments are moving forward.

The organization filed an environmental review with the Washington state Department of Ecology to move the Rose Apartments from 1726 E. Third Ave. to 1816 E. Fourth Ave.

The Washington State Department of Transportation acquired the Rose Apartments last year to make way for the North Spokane Corridor project. ECCO aims to buy the building back via auction and subsequently move the structure to a new location.

The Federal Highway Administration, WSDOT and the Washington state Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation entered an agreement in 2004 that made a dozen properties in East Central available for sale at auction to organizations that could re-establish the historic buildings within the neighborhood.

ECCO is likely to be the sole bidder for the apartments, because it owns one of the only available sites in the neighborhood that can accommodate the historic structure.

“At some point, we will repurchase the building and use proceeds from the initial sale to move it,” said Chris Venne, ECCO board president.

The two-story, 4,000-square-foot apartment building has been providing housing in the East Central neighborhood since the early 1900s. It was built in 1910 by stonemason Michael Hunz, who named the structure after his daughter, Rose Marie. At the time, it was one of a few multifamily apartment complexes in the city.

The city of Spokane acquired the building – which was abandoned and in disrepair – in 2010 and placed it on the Spokane Register of Historic Places. ECCO purchased the property from the city in 2012, gutted the interior and transformed it into eight, one-bedroom apartments for low-income residents.

The building relocation is slated for completion in September, according to the environmental review.

“It’s our intention to put it back into service as affordable housing,” said Venne, adding several affordable homes have either been demolished or moved to make way for the North Spokane Corridor project. “Our goal is to make sure these eight apartments … don’t go away with the hundreds of others.”