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

The Dirt: Plans move forward for multifamily project on Normandie Complex site

The city of Spokane’s former vehicle maintenance site in the Emerson Garfield neighborhood could soon be repurposed into a multifamily housing development.

Property owner NoDo Spokane LLC filed an environmental review earlier this month with the Washington state Department of Ecology for NoDo Spokane, a 176-unit multifamily housing development that will be built at 127 W. Mission Ave.

The more than 5-acre site was used for the city’s fleet maintenance and traffic engineering services departments before NoDo Spokane LLC purchased it for $2.3 million in 2019, according to Spokane County Assessor’s Office records.

NoDo Spokane’s principal is Spokane Chiefs and Spokane Indians owner Robert Brett. RenCorp Realty owner Chris Batten was listed as a contact for the project on the environmental review.

Preliminary site plans for the project show four three-story 20,700-square-foot buildings and two 29,300-square-foot buildings that will each contain three to four stories. The structures will be built on the west side of the site.

An additional 24 units will be built near the southwest corner of Normandie Street and Sinto Avenue. In addition to the multifamily buildings, the east side of the Normandie Complex site could be developed into an additional mix of apartments with some existing buildings to be repurposed into commercial space, according to the environmental review.

The entire project, when complete, is to house more than 280 residents, and 40 to 100 people could work on-site. The site will have up to 315 parking spaces.

A pre-development application filed in May with the city indicates the project’s estimated cost is $18 million. The project architect is Olson Projects of Spokane.

The Normandie site, which spans two full city blocks, was used by the city for vehicle maintenance, storage and printing. The city acquired the land in 1899 for $1 from John J. Browne, a businessman from Portland who helped found the city of Spokane and Browne’s Addition, according to a Spokesman-Review article published in 2019.

When the Spokane Central Service Center was built in 2015, the city moved its fleet and street operations there and sold the Normandie site.

The Normandie site reportedly had “significant issues” with pollution from its use as a vehicle maintenance facility, according to the Spokesman-Review article.

NoDo Spokane LLC submitted documentation to the state Department of Ecology in August, stating the site was adequately remediated.

“While it is possible that isolated areas of contaminated soils may remain on site, this potential is associated with any property which has been developed and used for more than a century,” NoDo Spokane wrote in the environmental review. “We do not suspect conditions or releases which require other than de minimis removal of stained soils or occasional debris from previous structures if encountered.”

Construction on the NoDo project is slated to begin in April, according to the environmental review.

Albertsons stores undergoing renovations

Two Spokane-area Albertsons stores will be undergoing renovations, according to permits approved by Spokane County.

An Albertsons store at 13606 E. 32nd Ave., near the southeast corner of 32nd Avenue and state Highway 27, will be converted into a Safeway store.

Work includes interior modifications to relocate the pharmacy, floral department and Starbucks kiosk, in addition to replacing dry and refrigerated merchandise displays.

The permit valuation is $500,000, according to the permit application submitted by Safeway.

The county issued a separate permit earlier this month to build a Starbucks coffee shop in the Albertsons store at 2910 E. 57th Ave. The project cost is $20,000, according to the application.

Kirkland-based Woodman Construction is the contractor for both projects.

Vista Title & Escrow renovating space

Spokane-based Vista Title & Escrow filed a building permit application with the city to renovate 3,390 square feet of space in The Man Shop headquarters building at 801 W. Francis Ave.

Work includes adding offices, a reception area and break room.

Construction Associates of Spokane is the project contractor. Spokane-based DS Studio is the interior designer for the project.

The permit valuation is $165,000, according to the application.

Vista Title & Escrow is currently located at 201 W. North River Drive, Suite 205.