STA purchases property for expansion from convicted rapist Arlin Jordin

The Spokane Transit Authority is moving forward with expansion plans at its campus, buying property for an administration building, possibly starting in 2028.

STA bought for $1.46 million two properties from convicted rapist Arlin Jordin, who continues to manage at least one rental property in Spokane from prison .

STA also bought the neighboring building, at 1310 W. Boone Ave., in December 2025 for $1.42 million. Up until 2022, it too, had been owned by Jordin.

The three buildings, with a combined purchase price of $2.88 million, are located across from the STA bus barn at 1231 W. Boone Ave. Crews boarded up the windows of the buildings a couple months ago and erected a fence around them.

“We have been interested in these properties for quite some time,” STA spokeswoman Carly Cortright said. “We will be demolishing those properties within the next few months.”

The properties purchased in March at 1302 and 1308 W. Boone Avenue were assessed by the county at about $1.2 million. The land includes a four-story, 12-unit apartment building built in 1905 as well as a 2,800-square-foot home built in 1901.

The 2025 purchase included a 12-unit brick apartment also built in 1905.

Cortright said STA hopes, after the demolition is complete, to build a new administrative building, called the Fixed Route Operations Center, in their place. Transit agency CEO Karl Otterstrom said that the process of bringing the center to fruition is still fledgling, but has long been in the works.

Otterstrom noted that a draft of the agency’s facilities master plan, in which the acquisition is included, is available for viewing on the agency’s website.

“The design process will start this year,” Cortright said.

The new building will include administrative offices, a driver’s lounge, a fitness center for all employees and will eventually house the organization’s dispatch center. Otterstrom said some urgency is needed to address lack of space, outdated equipment and safety concerns related to the mostly vacant properties.

“We have people working out of literal closets here,” Cortright said.

So far, the plan is just a concept. Cortright said the size of the building and locations of offices have not yet been determined. But she noted that the goal would be to start construction by 2028.

“It’s being able to relocate into a space that’s properly designed for it, both for the equipment, the technology, and to accommodate the people who should be in there,” Otterstrom said. “Especially during snow events and whatnot, it’s really tight today.”

Asked if the agency had any concerns about paying a convicted rapist $1.46 million for the properties, Cortright said it did not.

“Arlin, for the longest time, was not interested in selling those properties to us,” she said.

Asked why she thought Jordin was now willing to do so, she didn’t know.

“It’s land we coveted and he just happened to be the owner.”

She noted that the transaction was an “extensive purchase process.

“We had to help the tenants find housing,” she said. “We worked with a relocator to make sure they had a place to live before the purchase went through.”

Terry cloth robe

In November 2004, a woman alleged to Spokane police that she went to Jordin’s residence, at his request, to talk about renting an apartment.

Jordin answered the door wearing a terry cloth robe. He offered the woman a cocktail as they discussed a rental agreement.

The woman said she woke up the next morning in Jordin’s bed and wasn’t wearing any clothes.

After talking to a friend, she went to a local hospital where she learned that she had benzodiazepine in her system. She reported the encounter to Spokane police and Jordin was later arrested for second-degree rape.

When news of the arrest came to light, many other women came forward with similar encounters.

At one point, eight women claimed to have been raped, another nine said they were drugged but escaped, and another 40 reported Jordin offering drinks and wearing a terry cloth robe while discussing rental agreements.

Despite the scores of allegations, prosecutors tried Jordin on the single rape charge.

A jury convicted Jordin in May 2006. At his sentencing, Jordin admitted nothing and expressed no remorse.

Instead, he claimed the encounter was consensual but admitted it was poor judgment to give his guest too much liquor to drink, causing her to “black out.”

Since that time, the former insurance executive has remained in prison even though his original sentence was 8½ years.

He continued to collect rents, and sue former tenants, from prison.

Of the five previously known Jordin properties, a check of county records shows he continues to own a home at 1827 W. Ninth Ave.

The three on Boone Avenue were sold to STA; another property at 1311 W. Ninth Ave. was sold in 2015.

The last time Jordin made headlines was two years ago when the property management company that managed apartments owned by Jordin agreed to pay about $330,000 to settle claims that it fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars from the COVID-19 pandemic rental assistance program.

Spokesman-Review reporter Nick Gibson contributed to this report.