Jeff Humphrey, Media Content Coordinator, 509.625.6308
Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at 2:37 p.m.
The City of Spokane has sold off a five acre, former maintenance facility at Normandie Street and Mission Avenue. Now, developers Bobby Brett and Chris Batten have big plans for the property.
“To me, in some respects, you look at this and you say ‘what a building this could be for a brewery’,” exclaimed Brett during a recent tour of the property.
“It’s just such a cool building; it reminds me of an old airplane hangar,” added Batten, owner of RenCorp Realty.
Up until four years ago, the complex served as headquarters for the Spokane Streets Department. This is where the City dispatched its snowplows. Mechanics maintained Spokane’s fleet of trucks and cars in a nearby garage.
However, today drivers have now shifted that type of work to the Spokane Central Service Center, freeing up this prime piece of real estate for something better.
“Hopefully, now with the sale of this Normandie Fleet Services Complex, we’re going to see a reactivation of this property as well. Hopefully some new residential, some new mixed-use retail and commercial activity,” predicted Charlie Wolff, City of Spokane Business Development manager.
The City of Spokane owns a lot more real estate than you might think.
As one of his strategic initiatives, Mayor David Condon has made putting some of the City’s surplus property back on the market a top priority.
“This building has been sold to a private land owner who will re-energize this into an urban village. It will be exciting to see, over the months and years to come what this turns into, right here in the core of our city,” Condon said of the Normandie Complex.
So now, Brett and Batten are getting ready to show their $2.3 million purchase to prospective tenants.
With Brett and Batten’s help, a property that’s grown weeds and mostly sat idle for years, is about to see new life as the City leverages its surplus assets.
“We think it’s a gateway to the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood. You know you’ve got the North Bank, the sports complex, all that’s coming up there. This is just a big missing piece and I think putting it back into private hands where we can redevelop it and, over time, increase the tax base only makes sense,” Batten said.
Condon says in the meantime, the City is taking proceeds from the sale of surplus properties and making investments in projects that will improve the quality of life for our community.
“Those dollars are going to be reinvested into arts and opportunities for basically, the foundational aspects of creating diversity and locations for our citizens to go to, that truly are assets for our citizens,” explained Condon.
For more information, visit Spokanecity.org and search for “community investment”.
