Brian Walker, Communications Manager, 509.655.1387
Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 11:05 a.m.
The Spokane City Council will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Sept. 25 on a resolution that would approve the transfer of property at 3011 E. Wellesley Ave. in Hillyard from the City to the Northeast Public Development Authority (NEPDA).
The 22,570-square-foot property at the intersection of Market Street and Wellesley Avenue is vacant. It was formerly occupied by the Alhambra Courts apartment building. In November 2017, the 12,300-square-foot building sustained extensive fire damage and was condemned as uninhabitable. The NEPDA submitted a request to the City to transfer the property to the NEPDA to support the organization’s mission to revitalize Hillyard.
PDA plans contemplate an approximately 25,000-square-foot mixed-use building with 30 affordable housing units (rented at 80 to 115% of Area Median Income) and ground floor commercial uses, including a local business incubator and future office space for the NEPDA. Redevelopment of the site will deliver critical housing units adjacent to an area of job growth and proximate to high-frequency transit, the forthcoming Children of the Sun Trail and the U.S. 395/Wellesley Avenue interchange, among other amenities.
The transfer would incentivize the revitalization and utilization of a historic and older commercial district; support development that includes employment, commercial and residential activities; remove blight; and increase tax revenues.
“The project will provide sorely-needed affordable housing units as well as significant additional benefits to the surrounding community in line with the NEPDA’s mission and the City’s Comprehensive plan …,” NEPDA Executive Director Jesse Bank wrote to the City. “This solution is a win for the City, a win for the NEPDA and a win for the Hillyard community.”
The City demolished the structure and remediated potential asbestos-containing materials after the fire made the property unsafe to occupy and the previous owner did not comply with the demolition order. A lien was placed on the property’s title in an attempt to recover the City’s incurred costs, but no clear path to be made whole was identified until the NEPDA formulated the transfer request, which would repay the City upon sale of the eventual building.
Following tax foreclosure, Spokane County attempted to sell the property via two separate open-market auctions in December 2022 and was unable to do so. The City acquired the property from the county in May 2023.
For more information, contact City Planner Amanda Beck at abeck@spokanecity.org.
