The Dirt: McKinley School conversion project resurfaces near Spokane’s Sprague Union District

Plans have been submitted once again to revive the McKinley School project that would convert the building, constructed in 1902, into a combination of commercial and residential space in Spokane.

The $4.5 million project will bring dozens of apartments and a space for the public as well, according to plans.

Located at 120 N. Magnolia St., developers have been working for years to redevelop the roughly 17,000 square-foot-building with little progress.

Spokane-based InterUrban Development, first announced plans in 2016 calling for a mixed-use project with a brewery/distillery, restaurants, retail and office space.

Plans changed slightly in 2020 due to the pandemic only to resurface again in early 2022 after it recently obtained a zoning change for the site. At the time, plans called for office, dining and residential space, according to Spokane-Review reports.

Rob Brewster, lead developer of the project, is hoping for a better outcome after a string of projects of his succeeded, while others remained unfinished or were abandoned.

Back in action at the McKinley site, Brewster attributed much of the delay of the project to market conditions following COVID -19 and inefficient permitting processes.

“Council members who ran on the housing crisis were unwilling to work with us. We spent two years trying to get a zone change from the city,” he said. “When we finally got it changed, it was early 2022, and I’m sure you know what happened after that.”

Following lockdowns and sheltering in place policies, the increased interest rates and construction costs made financing the project an insurmountable task, Brewster said.

“It was hard, and we would have pursued a Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive but it was changed under a certain president,” Brewster said, referring to President Donald Trump whose budget plans a 90% cut to the program.

“Those things are obvious but it’s emblematic of what’s wrong with the process across the board. These projects are not easy themselves and this stuff makes it needlessly difficult – and in a city that needs housing.”

Brewster and his team are talking with lenders and affordable-housing groups. They recently held a predevelopment meeting with city building staff to discuss the project, he said.

“Since we already have plans that the city has seen, we just wanted to make sure our old plans were still up to code,” Brewster said.

It turns out city staff suggested only minor changes before Brewster will submit the project for a construction permit application, he said.

According to Brewster, he plans to convert the school into 29 apartment units in the upper floors and a taphouse in the main floor inside the former gymnasium.

“We had previously planned for retail space or offices but now we’re doing the taphouse,” he said. “It makes it so there’s a draw and makes it more interesting and fun and community oriented.”

Previous plans also included the construction of a residential building immediately to the school’s west, but rising costs have forced a reconsideration.

Brewster said he is unsure of when he will submit the application for the construction permit.

“It depends on what we find for construction costs,” he said. “The economic state of the market makes things difficult right now in the lending environment.”

Brewster also praised the city’s investment in the nearby Sprague Union District.

“They’re building good business along Sprague. It’s promising to see Gonzaga growing east and the new freeway coming in. It’s all great,” he said. “Hopefully the next phase is to see more housing.”

South Hill apartments planned

A development duo is looking to construct a four-story apartment building near the intersection of Cedar Street and 7th Avenue, according to a construction permit application submitted to the city of Spokane.

“I coordinate the dirt moving and construction stuff and she dials in everything as far as design and interior finishes,” said Tony Bailey, who owns the site with his wife, Leah Bailey. “And when we rent, we have direct contact with our tenants and manage the property ourselves.”

Bailey, senior project manager at Colbert-based Kilgore Construction Inc., said the building will offer 20 units of housing. One of the units will have three bedrooms, two units will have two bedrooms and the rest will have one bedroom.

Located at 619 S. Cedar St., the estimated cost of construction is $1 million, plans show.

The project will also include 12 parking spaces, none of which were required by code.

Purchased in July for about $265,000, Bailey said the property’s location is great for the project.

“It’s close to downtown, close to hospitals and the Cannon Streetcar (Suburb Historic) District,” he said. “We were careful not to take away from the district and instead came up with a design that will sort of pay homage to what is already there.”

Bailey plans for construction to begin in July and be completed in June of next year, he said.

Colbert-based Kilgore Construction Inc. will construct the building that was designed by Press Architecture, a Spokane-based firm.