The Dirt: From beauty to bowling, downtown hair school to receive mixed-use remodel

The downtown building that housed Glen Dow Academy may soon be turned into a speakeasy, restaurant, arcade, bowling alley and apartments, according to city of Spokane records.

A construction permit application was submitted to the city to remodel the building located at 309 W. Riverside Ave., across the street from the Onion restaurant.

The Glen Dow Academy had been a staple in downtown Spokane for more than half a century before closing in March 2024.

According to previous Spokesman-Review reporting, the school was operated by Jennifer Von Doehren, the daughter of its founder, Glen Dow.

Before Von Doehren, the school was owned and operated by her brother Martin Dow, who died in 2016.

Von Doehren never planned on taking the reins but kept the operation going for another eight years before deciding to sell. She originally intended to sell the property along with the trade school, but a deal could not be made.

“The requirements for someone to get an accredited trade school are large. The accreditation process for a new buyer … those hurdles are pretty daunting today,” Von Doehren said in 2024.

The property includes the parking lot at the southwest corner of Riverside Avenue and Bernard Street, a three-story brick building immediately to its west and a conjoined two-storied building that features a decorative white and red facade.

The property was sold in February for $1.55 million to Darren Capaul, Michael Zandt and Justin Paine, according to Spokane County property records.

The proposed operation has been named 1913 Brick & Barrel, partly named after the year the building was constructed.

The conversion project first became public in June when plans were submitted as part of the predevelopment process, which gives developers the opportunity to garner feedback from city building officials before construction permits are applied for.

Those plans included converting the third floor into apartments, its first and second floors into a restaurant and bar, and the basement into a speakeasy and cigar lounge.

Additionally, Brick & Barrel will include a 1,400-square-foot deck on the second floor for restaurant seating on the east wall of the building that would overhang the parking lot.

As is typical for a construction permit application, plans have not yet been made public for this step in the permitting process.

Characteristics of the permit application, however, indicate the project has been scaled back from its original design during predevelopment.

In June, the predevelopment estimated cost of construction was $3 million, while the recent construction permit application estimated construction to cost $1.5 million.

Plans submitted during predevelopment included details of the Brick & Barrel project.

If completed in accordance to previous plans, the third floor will offer 10 units of housing and a rooftop deck.

The second floor restaurant will feature a dining room, bar area, game rooms and lanes for duckpin bowling, which is a simplified, social variation of traditional bowling.

The first floor will offer a mezzanine with seating for 40 people, ping pong, darts, foosball, air hockey and pinball machines.

The street level portion of the first floor will feature more game rooms, a dining room and a bar.

The basement will be used for storage and offer game rooms including bocce ball, a bar, a dining room and a cigar lounge, plans show.

The project was designed by Studio+ Architects and will be completed by Walker Construction, both Spokane-based firms.

The remodel permit application was submitted by Janee Johnson, project manager at Studio+.

“While we appreciate you reaching out, we currently have no comment on this project,” Johnson said.

Housing project planned

for South Hill

In 2022, a fire in the basement of Bethany Presbyterian Church damaged much of its interior at 2607 S. Ray St.

Located a few blocks northeast of the Lincoln Heights Shopping Center, the church was recently demolished to make way for a $7.6 million housing development, according to construction permit applications submitted to the city of Spokane.

Applications were submitted for three structures, including two, three-story apartment buildings and a structure that will be used by the church as a sanctuary. That sanctuary will remain open to the public to schedule events while also being available for use by residents, according to Shannon Meagher, development consultant for the project.

“Bethany Presbyterian is living by their values,” she said. “It will by offering a larger-than-normal community building and 22 units of affordable family housing.”

Meagher contracted with Proclaim Liberty, a nonprofit housing developer that will lease of the entirety of the project, she said.

Proclaim developed and operates the Liberty Park Terrace Apartment and Early Learning Center, a 55-unit development in southeast Spokane, near Interstate 90.

“Proclaim Liberty does cool stuff,” Meagher said. “They get things done for other organizations that don’t want to develop affordable housing themselves.”

The project, dubbed the Bethany Commons, will offer 22 units of housing, half of which will be occupied by residents who have relationships with Spokane housing nonprofits, Family Promise and Thrive International. The other half of units will be leased on the open market, according to Meagher.

Units will include one, two and three bedrooms.

Meagher said the church is working with a variety of other groups to coordinate uses of the community building. While also serving as worship space for its churchgoers, the building remains open for public use.

“The church has always practiced radical hospitality, meaning their doors are always open for anyone who needs it,” she said.

Additionally, the church is working with Feast World Kitchen to help provide a commissary kitchen program, which is a licensed-commercial space designed for businesses like food trucks, caterers and vendors to rent for food preparation, storage and equipment.

Funding for the project came from numerous sources, including Federal Home Loan Bank, the city of Spokane, Spokane County, insurance proceeds from Bethany Presbyterian, Washington state Department of Commerce and Presbytery of the Inland Northwest, according to Meagher.

If funds are left over, developers have other additives they are considering like a play area for children, she said.

Construction is anticipated to begin in June and be completed later in the summer of next year.

Meagher, a Spokane resident, specializes in working with local churches on similar projects.

“Churches are facing a declining membership, so they have begun to consider how they can stay relevant in the community in which they are embedded,” she said. “They are beginning to choose completely different paths.”

Spokane-based ZBZ Architecture designed the project, and Colbert-based Kilgore Construction will build it, according to the application.

More homes planned for Grandview Neighborhood

A developer has submitted plans to the city of Spokane to turn 16 properties into 67 individual lots south of John A. Finch Arboretum across Interstate 90, according to city records.

Dubbed the Westridge, the long-plat project is planned near Grandview Park, a roughly 10-acre vacant site at the southwest of the intersection of West Grandview Avenue and South H Street.

Other long-plat projects nearby are planning to turn the mostly vacant areas into full blown neighborhoods.

Immediately south of the Westridge is the Beard Addition, a massive 199-home long-plat project by Lennar Corporation, a Miami-based firm that was named the second biggest home building company in the country by Builder Magazine.

Immediately west of the Westridge is a long plat-project planned by Greenstone Corporation, the firm that developed Kendall Yards. Greenstone is planning to build 111 homes on the site, according to city records.

The entirety of all three long-plat projects fall within an area that was put under a housing moratorium in May of last year.

The second in two years, policy makers halted new construction because the area’s infrastructure is lagging behind its growing population. Added homes could cause problems if residents were forced to evacuate during a fire, according to previous Spokesman-Review reporting.

Plans for the Westridge were submitted in December as part of the pre-development process.

According to Spokane County property records, Debbie Rosengrant-Robertson owns the entirety of the site. Rosengrant-Robertson said she is working with Lennar to bring utilities to the proposed properties.

“Lenar is working on 21st Avenue,” she said. “They should have that done by July so we can actually build on those lots starting in August.”

Rosengrant-Robertson said she will soon list lots for sale along 21st Avenue.

Plans were designed by Whipple Consulting Engineers, a Spokane Valley-based firm.