Permits are under review by Spokane County for a project that would add 176 apartments, parking garages and commercial buildings on North Hatch Road in Colbert.

The proposed $55 million project, called The Gem at Midway by owner Cary Snow, calls for seven apartment buildings that would include a total of 176 units. It’s located just north of North Hatch Road and east of its interchange with U.S. Highway 395.

The proposed building site is just north of the existing apartments at The Ridge at Midway in Colbert.

Plans for The Gem at Midway also include a clubhouse and eight parking structures of various design, said Sheila Gates-Ping of the architectural firm Bernardo Wills. She and Steve Goodmansen are the lead architects on the project.

In addition to The Gem at Midway, 16633 N. Hatch Road, there are future plans for The Village at Midway, 16417 N. Hatch Road. The Village would include four commercial buildings for future development that could include a grocery store, Gates-Ping said.

Both are part of the same development on about 8.3 acres of land owned by Snow, who owns Snow’s Auto at 5924 N. Division St.

“It’s in for building permits. We are responding to the county’s permit comments,” Gates-Ping said. “If we were able to break ground this year, I’m betting it would be finished in 2025.”

Future plans could add even more apartments north of the proposed site, she said. “It depends on when we can get this started.”

New use envisioned for Hazen & Jaeger building

A Spokane company has submitted plans to convert the former Hazen & Jaeger Funeral Home, 1306 N. Monroe St., into 19 residential apartments.

Luke Grimsrud, of Uptic Studios, met with city planners in January and plans were updated in February for the conversion of about 34,500 square feet of the former funeral home into living units for a project he called Monroe Lofts.

The documents also indicate that Grimsrud is considering building an additional building for apartments on the property. AJB Monroe Operating Co. LLC purchased the building in November 2020 for $1.1 million, according to county records.

Grimsrud could not be reached for comment.

Plans include six one-bedroom, six two-bedroom, four three-bedroom and one four-bedroom units as well as two studio apartments. Plans also seek approval for 19 parking stalls in various locations.

The expected cost of the conversion of the former funeral home into the Monroe Lofts was not listed on the records filed with the city.

If approved, the conversion will add a new chapter to a historic building.

John B. Hazen and Charles P. Jaeger founded Hazen & Jaeger Funeral Home in 1910 prior to moving into the Monroe Street building.

In 1955, Hazen & Jaeger opened its Spokane Valley location. In 1999, both Hazen and Jaeger facilities joined Texas-based Dignity Memorial.

The funeral home operations were then consolidated at the Spokane Valley location, and the Monroe Street property was listed for sale in 2019.

Native Project proposes new youth center

The Native Project, a Spokane-based social-service nonprofit, has submitted requests to the city of Spokane to build a new $8 million building for children and youth services at its location on West Maxwell Avenue .

The four-story Children and Youth Service Center, which would have about 12,700 square feet of space, would be built just west of the existing Native Project building at 1907 West Maxwell. Plans call for developing spaces for group rooms, counseling rooms, a classroom, a youth kitchen, open space and a ceremonial room.

The new building also will have offices, a break room, a balcony and a conference room that can accommodate about 30 employees. Plans also call for adding 26 parking spaces.

Anthony Janson, lead architect with Womer and Associates, of Spokane, said that the project remains in its early design phase but the client is hoping for a late summer construction start.

He was reluctant to predict how long the project, which includes demolition of an existing storage building at the site, would take to complete.

“I think the expectation is that we could complete that in a year or a little over a year,” Janson said. “It’s always sensitive when you are trying to incorporate a cultural imprint on the project.”

Wormer and Associates, while lead architect, is also handling the civil and structural engineering part of the design. Kartchner Engineering, of Spokane, will handle the mechanical engineering for the project, Janson said.

The project eventually will go out to bid. so the project does not yet have a contractor.