MetroSpokane

Fast Forward...Downtown - Tonight

So you've ranted and raved here over the past three years about a wide variety of topics.  It's been good...real good.  And a large portion of text here has been dedicated towards downtown Spokane with all it's wins and losses. 

Well tonight is your chance to give some input that might translate into action as the City of Spokane looks to be updating it's plan for downtown.  Bring all your ideas no matter how outlandish.  Think a gondola should connect Browne's Addition to the future Kendall Yards?  Throw it out there.  It's only three hours people so show some love for your city.  Opportunities like this don't come around very often, and there'll be loads of free parking. :^p

Details, details, details:

• COMMUNITY WORKSHOP
• Thursday, November 29, 2007
• 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
• South Campus Facility Court (next to the Bookie), 412 E. Spokane Falls Blvd. in the University District.

For Sale: Pioneer Park Place Condos hit the MLS

What to do with an old convalescent home on the lower South Hill?  How about some affordable condos?  Community Frameworks, an affordable housing developer, is bringing the vacant 1950s structure kicking and screaming into the current century with a complete remake.  Renderings of the building at 424 W. 7th Ave. show ample glass, more windows, and balconies to take advantage of the view north towards downtown.  Four floors with what looks like 6-7 units per.  The two bed one bath listed is asking $206K, while the 1 bed-1 bath is seen wanting $152K.  Lower South has a pulse people.

• Listing: Pioneer Park Place Condos [MLS-Windermere]

Craigslist-er pissed at Diamond Parking

A disgruntled but dedicated monthly customer of Diamond Parking figures he's spent more than $4,000 on Diamond Parking over the past eight years.  Apparently Diamond has more than doubled their month parking rates.  He let it fly on a Craigslist rant:

"I want to give a big shout-out of thanks to our friends at Diamond Parking. Not only do I get the privilege of paying my buddies $51.00 per month to go to work everyday, they were awesome enough to increase the monthly parking rate to $114.00! Wooooo! Just found this out today and they are fabulous enough to start the increase beginning January 2008. I love it. What fantastic friends I've had since April 2001. That's how long I've been paying them $51.00 per month - our completely sweet friendship has cost me approximately $4,080 over the past almost 8 years. Since I'm good at my job and I don't plan on being fired or quitting anytime soon, Diamond Buddy now wants me to pay approximately $9,120 for the assumed 80 months into the future that I will be still working at my job. Nice! I can't wait! The extra $5,040 that I'll be paying them is kinda like a tip to them for being such kick ass friends and letting me park my car on their pavement.  January 2008 is just not arriving soon enough."

Really now, at $51/month the daily cost (using 20 workdays/month) was only $2.55.  The new cost will be $5.70/day, giving you full access to the Diamond Parking Co's "We Care Program."  Add in the relatively high price of gas and it's no wonder STA has seen an overall increase in ridership of 11.7 percent over the first three quarters of 2007.  Kind of makes you wish we had more comprehensive transit options.   

Past Project: Riverfalls Tower - Phase II

Following up last week's walk down memory lane we again take you back to the early 70's in downtown Spokane.  New to the scene were urban high-rise apartments that much like today's condos were expected to make urban living appealing again.  Only then, developers were going seriously vertical and making some dramatic changes to the Spokane skyline.  Notable projects included the 20-story Park Tower Apartments, the 16-story Cathedral Plaza, the 11-story Chateau, and finally the 16-story Riverfalls Tower Phase I.

The photo above taken from a 1970's periodical shows the existing Riverfalls Tower Phase I, and next to it the proposed Riverfalls Phase II that to this day has yet to break ground.  At the time Phase II was to have 60 garden apartments each with a view.  Quite possibly this was just a conceptual model, just like this one we mentioned earlier.  Both designed by Warren Heylman and both very different in form.  Phase II makes us think:  If Bob Newhart were filming a sitcom in Spokane in the early 70's...

Winter Public Spaces

It's damn cold out today and that means that Ice-skating is underway downtown, but you wouldn't know it by looking.  That's because the ice-rink is buried in the middle of Riverfront Park a full three blocks away from any of the action downtown near Riverpark Square.  That's too bad, because during the winter months nothing attracts people like outdoor ice-skating (both participants and observers).  Seriously.

Public spaces during the winter have an entirely different way about them, and if they're accessible and visible by the public they can dramatically improve the street life.  But did you know that the original plan for Riverfront Park called for the ice-rink to be located in a different location?

Hippy Girl replaces Bucky Fuller

The beautification? of the Bernard Street Wall continues as Bucky Fuller's dominance of the wheatpastie scene on the lower South Hill came to an end this week.  As of last weekend the image of a large hippy girl is now gracing the wall.  At first glance we feared Hope Sandoval, but on closer inspection we - have - absolutely - no - idea - who - this - is.  A call out to the Rainbo Collective, please help in the comments section below.

Subprime Spillage - How might it play out in Spokane?

Oh what a difference two years makes.  Last week the Center for Responsible Lending (CPL) released an analysis of the ripple effects of forclosures on surrounding properties and communities overall.  As usual, we pulled out the data speaking to our neck-o-the-woods and compared it to others in the region.

Then and Now: Howard to Browne

Think downtown hasn't changed in the last 50 years?  Today we take a look at a few city blocks that made some headlines this week.  Armed with only a scanner, old maps, and Photoshop we went to work splicing and dicing the above aerial photos.  They show two dramatically different views of the blocks between Spokane Falls Blvd and Main from Howard to Browne.  The photo on the left is obviously current day 2007.  Lots of ashpalt dedicated to the temporary storage of cars and few buildings.  The photo on the right shows the same view but with an overlay of building footprints from 1952.  All colored areas represent buildings with most being multiple stories and almost all brick.

Car-storage rates increase downtown - Economic collapse imminent

Parking rates downtown increased yesterday.  Rates to store your car on the street for 90 minutes increased from $1 to $1.20.  Car storage for 2 hours will set you back a whopping $1.50 [Gasp!].  As far as we can tell, shoppers were still showing up yesterday and no businesses have shuttered their doors...yet.  We'll be following this issue closely because, well, we must protect the god-given right to park for free and as close to our destination as is possible.

In all seriousness, the short video above offers an excellent interview on why charging an appropriate fee for parking is in everyone's interest.  The interview is with Dr. Donald Shoup the probably the foremost authority on the economics of parking.  A quote to ponder:  "You have expensive housing for people and free parking for cars.  You've got your priorities exactly the wrong way around."  Fast forward to 3:23 and you'll hear the key reason for charging people to pay for car storage.

• The true cost of parking in Spokane [MetroSpokane]

SIA Dominates 2007 airport concessions contest...honestly

[Photo of Spokane International Airport via Diaverde238]

Well friends the 2007 RICHARD A. GRIESBACH EXCELLENCE IN AIRPORT CONCESSIONS CONTEST passed with nary a mention last week in the local news.  The contest appears to be big in airport circles however as it strives to, "recognize the best and brightest in airport retail, food & beverage and overall concessions."  We know you're intrigued.  How did we fare?

Spokane pretty much kicked ass this year as we dominated the small airports category bringing home three (count 'em) awards across multiple categories.  These included:

• Best Specialty Retail Program in North America
• Best Convenience Retail Program in North America
  and last but not least...
• Best Food and Beverage Program in North America

Seattle-Tacoma took top spot winning the overall concessions contest.  DAMN YOU SEA-TAC!  We've yet to make it out there for a look, but after the remodel and with these awards there has to be a dramatic improvement.  So this holiday season when you're considering all you have to be thankful for at the terminal waiting for your delayed flight to begin boarding, explore the bounty that is Spokane International Airport Concessions.

Press Release from Airports Councils International

Question: Can low income housing and innovative design coexist?

Over in the Chief Garry neighborhood Habitat for Humanity is putting the finishing touches on one of their recent "Blitz Build" projects.  The idea is to construct a project in a rapid time frame (usually weeks).  This project was a nine unit development.  Habitat is one of our favorite charitable organizations and worthy of support.  The question is, looking at this project can the goals of low income housing be achieved with innovative and compassionate design?  Are they completely separate and unattainable outcomes?

Samuel Mockbee approached the same question in rural Hale County, Alabama starting back in 1993.  As a professor of architecture his 'rural studio' brought architecture students to the county to design and build homes for needy residents in what is one of the poorest areas in the country.  The designs are innovative, push the envelope, are built very cheaply, but they're also 'noble', as he put it.

This discussion is a fine line to be walking.  But given that there is a tent city not four blocks from here, it's a timely topic.  The need for low income housing is essential, but visiting the site yesterday and seeing how it turns it's back on the neighborhood, how it isolates rather than integrates into it, makes us wonder what the outcome will be in 5, 10, or 20 years from now.

Forbes points to Spokane...again

A one year increase in housing values of 10.4% has landed Spokane again on a Forbes list.  This time - Ten Sizzling Housing Markets.  The article boasts:

"Californians are moving up to this valley in inland Washington, driving up prices and leaving locals grumbling about crowded new developments and the lack of affordable housing. Though fewer new homes are under construction, and more "For Sale" signs crop up daily, Spokane is still a bargain. Median prices here are less than a quarter of those in San Francisco and a third of those in Los Angeles."

Thanks for the glowing review Forbes, and an even less flattering picture .  The brunt of their crack analysis:  Move here; we're cheaper.

NAC|Architecture Grows South

A tipster named Matt writes:

"Saw some construction going on downtown. Did some investigation, and here is what I found. New building going up adjacent to the NAC arch. building on jefferson and Riverside/Sprague."

Sure enough, NAC looks to be growing south and mod-ern adding 10,000 square feet of space to their existing building.  The West End continues it's revitalization and in an answer to the East End's Community Building going fer LEED Platinum:  NAC is going for LEED Silver on the addition.  In their own words:

"...the addition will incorporate a number of sustainable design features, including daylight harvesting, solar-controlled blind systems, and a high-efficiency displacement ventilation HVAC system."

No word on waterless urinals.

• NAC|Architecture Expansion - [GMAP]

Election 2007: Young versus Old?

With just over half the ballots counted the perceived North Side/South Side divide hasn't shown up yet, instead a different pattern is emerging, and one we find most interesting.  Looking at a cool election mashup the Spokesman created shows just how precincts across Spokane voted in the race for mayor.  With red representing the incumbent and green his challenger, we initially thought the results showed an urban/suburban split, with the challenger favored by more urban neighborhoods, and the incumbent favored more by the burbs. This isn't the case. 

The real pattern(in our opinion) clearly shows younger nabes versus older nabes.  Actually it's probably better to say newer development versus older development.   Where new development in downtown and near the edges of our city were more likely to go with Hession, while older more established nabes sided with Verner.

Mountain Gear: Wins state award for sustainable 'RE'-development

Spokane area businesses seem to be getting more and more recognition lately for innovations in sustainability.  For starters there's Commuter Cars, manufacturer of the innovative electric vehicle The Tango (located in the University District) and the uber-sustainable Saranac Hotel.  We can now add to that list the new Mountain Gear facility.

Just like the Saranac, Mountain Gear took a long under-utilized building and retrofitted it with a keen eye towards sustainability.  The company's efforts were noticed as last month the State of Washington awarded Mountain Gear the Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Practices.  According to the Department of Ecology website, "Mountain Gear was the first commercial company, and is still the largest private company, to remodel their building in Eastern Washinton following the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards."

The impact of Mountain Gear integrating sustainability into their project?  How about:  Conserve 248,000 gallons water/year, remodel reduced energy use by  60%, and salvaged or recycled 50% of their construction debris.  Nice!

Girls' Day Out - This weekend

One sure sign that an event is gaining some momentum is when people start to use acronyms.  Such is the case with the 3rd annual Girls' Day Out (or GDO). 

The 3rd big year has a one significant change from years past in that it's taking place on Friday 11/9 and Saturday 11/10.  With all the focus on downtown, might we suggest branching out this weekend?  Drop by some of the local hot spots in these four neighborhoods:  South Perry, Hillyard, Garland, and East Sprague.

• Event:  Girls' Day Out - 11/9 (3-6pm) 11/10 (10am-6pm)

MetroSpokane Sneak Peek: FOX Theater Unveiled

Be sure and GET FLASH...

The last time we were in the FOX was just prior to the start of the restoration work.  The upstairs theater walls had been removed and for the first time we were looking at the space as it had been designed in 1931.  So when we heard that on Saturday night a reception for donors was taking place we had to be there to see for ourselves the results of these past few years of restoration work.

We were floored by what we discovered.  In no uncertain terms the restoration of this theater is staggeringly beautiful.  From the art deco murals to the jaw-dropping sunburst light fixture the space is amazing.  For anyone who is a fan of architecture, Spokane's history, or even if your only connection is a $1 movie you saw there in 1998, you must see what a gift our city has been given by way of this restoration...and then donate.  Here's to Spokane, turning the corner.

• Event - Community Day at The FOX - Sunday November 18th - 12PM - 7PM
  

1615 W. Wilson: Dying on the vine?

Times have been tough for the townhouse trifecta on West Wilson Ave in Peaceful Valley.  Built in 2006 the three ended last year on the market listed at $289,000.  A year later:  one has been sold, one converted to a rental and the last one remains listed at $219,000 - a $70K price chop.  Now that's motivation.  The fact that this property is now asking 24% less than a year ago might speak to a change in the market.  Although it could possibly be blamed on the view across the street...

Listing: 1615 W. Wilson Avenue - $219,000

FOR SALE: Cannon Addition Contemporary - Bring the Windex

SOUTH HILL -  Last week we were underwhelmed in Browne's Addition, so this week we take a trip to the other end of the spectrum at  1416 W 12th Ave.  Here, the law of diminishing returns does not exist, as evidenced by the sheer number of windows on this home.  According to the listing one can expect to find "72 windows +/-" (they're still counting).

1426 W. 12th Ave by the numbers: 5 bedrooms; 5 bathrooms; 2 master suites; 2 garages (3 spaces); 1 carport; 72 windows (approx.); 9 pictures; $675,000.

Listing: 1416 W. 12th Avenue (5/5) - $675,000