Large apartment building planned for construction in Kendall Yards

One of the most recognizable vacant lots in all of Spokane will soon be the site of an estimated $71 million, 200-unit apartment building.

After several changes to plans for the Kendall Yards project on the vacant land west of the Monroe Street bridge, Greenstone Corp. has submitted an official construction application to the city of Spokane.

The plans include six stories of apartments, 364 parking stalls rather than the 243 originally envisioned, and 53,000 square feet of space that could house restaurants, retail or other amenities.

Joe Frank, president and CEO of Greenstone and the son of company founder Jim Frank, said the two did not wish to comment on the project.

In 2024, when a different apartment building plan was sought, Jim Frank expressed the importance of developing the properties because of their high visibility.

“For us, it’s extremely important that we don’t make a mistake on them,” he told The Spokesman-Review at the time.

Construction of the Kendall Yards development began in 2010, which turned an old 78-acre rail yard into a mixed-use neighborhood. It is widely considered a success due to its walkability and diverse home types.

While businesses and residential development have spread across the site, the most visible part of the property is the 5.5 acres stretching west from the Monroe Street Bridge that has remained vacant.

On one parcel of that vacant stretch, Greenstone’s proposed six-story apartment building will be the tallest in the entire Kendall Yards project.

Jim Frank has said the intent for that property was always to build bigger and taller.

The new project, at 1175 W. Summit Parkway, will have roughly 416,000 square feet and two levels of underground parking. It has been referred to as the Podium project since 2017, which is also the name of the public events venue built in 2020 just a few blocks to the east.

Greenstone has remained busy with its other projects, including River District West, a 900-acre mixed-use development that is now well past its 1,000th residential unit completed, according to the Spokane Journal of Business. And construction has begun at Mead Works, an estimated $1 billion development in north Spokane that will include 1,400 residential units and one million square feet of commercial space.

Most recently, the firm began work on the NoLL urban town center in Liberty Lake (featuring the Cinema Quattro boutique theater) and Trutina at North Place, a 55-plus, master-planned community in Post Falls, according to Spokesman-Review reports.

But there is still much unused property to develop in Kendall Yards.

Except for the visible vacant lots near downtown, most of the undeveloped portions of the neighborhood comprise the roughly 17 empty acres on its western edge, where the Spokane River meets Hangman Creek and turns to head north.

Greenstone officials have begun exploring potential development plans including in November of last year, when they were exploring the feasibility of building numerous small condominiums in the area.

In November, Joe Frank said his firm was advocating for more lenient condominium laws to ease the financial burden of developing the type of housing.

Financing challenges due to higher rates, stricter underwriting and increased legal liability are leading to fewer being built. This has resulted in demand for condo units far outstripping supply across the state, according to a report from the Seattle Times.

At 2345 W. Centennial Place, the estimated $1.4 million condominium dubbed the Hamblen is planned for a property located immediately west of the Ruins Restaurant.

The market-rate townhomes already constructed in Kendall Yards have been successful, but many are narrow buildings with multiple floors, oftentimes up to three stories.

Many buyers are looking for condos with only one floor, Joe Frank said earlier.

Units at the Hamblen will essentially be a large one-bedroom with a den and two-bedroom units.

Immediately west of the site, Greenstone has already developed about 30 buildable lots of similar size.

According to Joe Frank, the future of these prospective construction sites depends on how progress goes for the Hamblen.

If successful, the Franks will pursue condos of that style, but largely they will develop with the intent to gain an understanding of how the new laws work.

Land closest to the intersection of Summit Parkway and Monroe St. is owned by Premera Blue Cross. The insurance company bought the land in December 2022 for $4.8 million, according to county records. No plans to develop the property have been submitted to the city of Spokane, according to its website.

Greenstone Corporation contracted SRM Development, a Spokane-based firm, to build the new apartment building. Trevor Ashenbrener, managing partner at the firm, did not wish to comment.

Urbal Architecture, a Portland-based company, designed it. Hanna Lindblad, lead architect on the project, could not be reached by publication deadline.