Developer Jordan Tampien faces foreclosure of Brick West Brewing

Opening just before the world got shut down by a pandemic, Brick West Brewing completely changed the look and vibe of the west end of downtown Spokane. Now, it faces an uncertain future.

The popular brew pub and eatery entered foreclosure this week after co-owner Jordan Tampien and his partners failed to keep up with payments to Numerica Credit Union.

“It happened because payments weren’t made,” Tampien said. “I’ve worked with Numerica. We were having some internal difficulties with our partnership to get the funds to get that all caught up.”

The developer, and co-owner of Spokane’s two professional soccer teams, said he has a plan to keep the business going despite the financial hurdles.

“We have a buyer to buy the building. They are going to lease it back to us. I’m hoping that by the end of July it’s not an issue,” Tampien said. “We are communicating with Numerica. It’s not ideal, but when you have a group, you have to find a balance.”

Brick West opened in January 2020 and was the brainchild of Matt and Ryan Goodwin, Tampien, and his brother, Joel Tampien.

The Tampien brothers are facing a similarly dire situation with the office for 4 Degrees Real Estate, 915 W. Second Ave., the company that fueled much of the dozens of projects in Spokane and six in Boise that they have started over the past several years.

Tampien, who founded the company in 2015 with Joel, said they owe about $2.8 million each for the work to remake the real estate office and the work to convert the former Watts Automotive & Driveline Service into Brick West.

Tampien said he’s faced a combination of lower sales and higher interest rates, which has made it more difficult to secure affordable loans.

Just like Brick West Brewing, he said he hopes to sell the 4 Degree Real Estate office to a buyer and then lease it back “or find a more affordable office. But with Brick West, we want to keep and run it for a long time.”

Earlier this year, 4 Degrees merged its residential real estate business with eXp Realty, which is based in Bellingham. According to the merger news release, 4 Degrees had $306 million in residential real estate sales from 755 units in 2024.

All the local agents essentially work for eXp, but 4 Degrees will retain its name.

“It wasn’t a cash piece. It was more for resources for the agents,” Tampien said. “We still have the management and all those components. We just transitioned the agents to eXp. Now they fall under the umbrella of a bigger entity.”

Promises unkept

Tampien’s stated financial difficulties represent a massive shift from just two years ago when he was given the Spokane Preservation Advocates’ 2023 Historic Preservation Award following his renovation of downtown’s Lolo Lofts.

Earlier that same year, Tampien and Matt Goodwin borrowed $500,000 from Brandon Blanchat, who in 2020 opened Watts 1903 Spirits & Eatery next door to Brick West Brewing. But 1903 Spirits didn’t stay open long.

According to court records, Tampien and Goodwin did not pay back the loan.

Blanchat sued the partners in November 2023, and Spokane Superior Court Judge Rachelle Anderson ruled in January 2024 that they owed Blanchat a total of $530,427.

But before that case got settled, Tampien announced in December 2023 that he purchased the Garland Theater and adjacent properties for $1.8 million.

As part of the deal, he announced a lease with Chris Bovey, a Spokane artist and businessman, and Tyler Arnold, owner of the Jedi Alliance arcade, to operate the theater.

But that relationship quickly soured over the loss of the parking lot, which is being developed into apartments.

“I thought he was gonna be a hero of Spokane,” Bovey said of Tampien, adding that he was “really taken aback” when he dropped his role with the theater.

Bovey said that Tampien had promised him and his team “half a million and a parking lot” as part of a plan to save the theater. Instead, Bovey said, Tampien made a million selling the theater to business partner Ryan Berg.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Bovey said of Brick West’s foreclosure.

Arnold, Bovey’s partner at the Garland, said that he would sum up their experience with Tampien as “depressing.”

“We had a lot of hope in him almost being that missing piece that we were waiting for in the ‘Save the Garland’,” Arnold said. “Now, a year-and-a-half later, we’re just very disappointed that things did not turn out the way we were promised.”

Tampien talked of facade improvements to the theater, sponsorship money, even bringing back $3 popcorn and dollar movie nights, Arnold said.

“I want to believe that when I met Jordan, he was telling me the truth. I honestly think he just had too many irons in the fire and was unable to deliver what he had hoped,” Arnold said.

Arnold, too, was not surprised to learn of Brick West’s foreclosure.

“I saw signs a year or so ago that 4 Degrees might not have been all that was represented. I believe that they had built a foundation on debt, and that it was kind of a house of cards,” he said.

Arnold hopes that Tampien facing the loss of his flagship doesn’t lead to a trickle-down effect, where Berg and his investments get dragged down alongside over shared investments.

“I don’t want ill will or bad things for people, but what comes around goes around,” Arnold said. “Say you build a house of cards. Eventually, it comes crumbling down.”

Reached on Wednesday, Berg said he was unaware that Brick West Brewing had entered foreclosure.

“I knew he was having issues. He kind of gave me a little highlight with it,” Berg said of Tampien. “Everything I had heard, I thought that he had that under control.”

Berg said one of the Brick West partners, Goodwin, who could not be reached on Wednesday, moved to Texas last fall.

After buying Tampien out of the Garland project, the only effort Berg and Tampien are working on is the $33 million makeover of the Peyton Building, at 10 N. Post St. Plans call for adding a climbing wall, a library, a two-story atrium and 96 apartments.

But Tampien said he only has a small piece of the project. Berg confirmed that both he and Tampien own a smaller percentage of the project, and a large investor owns a majority stake.

The project, which prompted a 14-month closure of Post Street, faced delays, but Tampien and Berg recently completed demolition of the interior.

“It’s just hard. A lot of lenders don’t like historic-readaptive-reuse projects,” Berg said. “We have a lender. The last I checked with Jordan, we have a loan we are looking to close by the end of the month. We have a contractor on board.”

Asked if Tampien’s current foreclosure may impact the Peyton project, Berg said he doesn’t think so.

“I think it would be more concerning if this was a year ago when I had multiple projects with him. But I only have the one,” Berg said. “We have the financing identified. I wouldn’t say I’m too concerned, because the Peyton project is far enough along that I don’t think anyone would affect where we are at.”

‘ A grinder’

Berg, who with his wife owns Crafted Beauty medical spa at 510 W. Riverside Ave., said the Tampien brothers got hot into real estate in 2015, which was a completely different financial environment.

“The market was great. There was a big demand, and interest rates were low,” he said. “The market has just changed a little bit. That’s all I can think. The market changed.”

Tampien, who said he’s done more than 50 developments, said banks continue to loan for residential projects, but they have stopped loaning for office-type buildings, especially in the downtown core.

“One hundred percent, I’m disappointed. I thought rates would come down,” he said. “I thought we would be in a better spot.”

Berg, the Peyton partner, said he thinks Tampien will find a way through his current issues.

“He’s done a tremendous amount of good in Spokane,” Berg said. “It’s unfortunate to hear about Brick West. But, he’s a grinder. I definitely think he’ll land on his feet and continue to do good things for the community.”

Reporter Garrett Cabeza contributed to this article.