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[Midtown - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho ]
COEUR D'ALENE - Next time you're in Coeur d'Alene swing on up to Midtown on 4th Avenue and have a look around. It's not nearly as glamorous and spiffy as downtown, the sidewalks aren't embellished with bricks and fancy street lights, but it's a great little business district that has it's own vibe.
COEUR D'ALENE - One reality of the Inland Northwest is the ability to drive 20 minutes or so out of the city and be in a completely rural location. For all the growth in Coeur d' Alene over the past five years this rule still holds true. Tired of the big city? Always wanted to get back to the earth and earn a real living working off of the land? We may have the opportunity for you. There just so happens to be an Elk Facility for sale about 20 minutes south
of the city. 83 acres, 400 head, all International Champion Genetic
ELK valued at $2mil plus. With Cabella's in Post Falls serving elk
burgers what could go wrong? Asking price: $2.75 million. You'll kick yourself.
COEUR D'ALENE - When you don't have an interstate bisecting your downtown and your city grows enough to fill in between, the development opportunities can get interesting. Lest you think it's all condos in Couer d'Alene take a gander at Northwest Boulevard. Revamped a few years back by the Lake City Development Authority, what was primarily a boring four-lane arterial into the downtown has been greatly improved aesthetically...with cool feathers. The addition of sculptures, an extension of the Centennial trail, and gobs of attractive landscaping has made a difference to this gateway: some significant office projects have cropped up and are filling in the gaps.
Continue reading "Northwest Boulevard: Aesthetic gateway = investment?" »
RIVERSTONE - If a quaint downtown isn't your thing then might we suggest a quaint riverfront home? Black Rock's Bellerive is one of a few former woodmill sites that are being repurposed for some serious highlife and we're not talking the MGD kind. These are all riverfront with a mix of detached, courtyard, and condo-style structures. Phase I is 70 units and looks almost complete save the mixed-use structure under construction above.
COEUR D'ALENE - The latest addition to CDA's skyline is the Parkside Condos. It's Miller Stauffer's second tower here, precluded by McEuen Terrace one block to the east. This year's IronMan contestants will be doing a double take when they drive into town since it's completely visible from I-90, topping out well above the pine trees at a ginormous twenty stories. Ground floor parking, 3 stories commercial/retail and the remaining 17 nothing but lux. Suites are four to a floor and range from 1,900 to 3,900 sqf.
Continue reading "Touching Base: Parkside Condos really isn't that orange" »
[All this week we're heading east across the border where we'll be
taking a look around the Coeur D'Alene area, checking in on projects
and and
bringing it all back to you.]
COEUR D'ALENE - After yesterday's charm-filled visit to the Ice Plant Townhomes today we migrate to the city's core. What's 7 stories tall, consumes an entire lot, and has really ticked people off? Here's a hint: The Lofts at 609 Sherman. Apparently designed for the year 2051 when all of Sherman will be lined with 70' buildings, the residential structure is just kind of there. No retail on the ground floor means the opaque glass-block front gives little back to the street and sidewalk. A major downer for a city with such a walkable downtown. People of CDA The Lofts at 609 mean you no harm. Tetris anyone?
More pics below>>>
[All this week we're heading east across the border where we'll be taking a look around the Coeur D'Alene area, checking in on projects and and
bringing it all back to you.]
COEUR D'ALENE - If uniformity is not your thing then the Ice Plant Townhomes might drive you nuts. If you can look past it then one of the 24 nearly identical townhomes just might work for you. From the sidewalk it's a nice looking project: Neighborhood scale, lots of brick, exposed wood, and traditional dormers all show an attempt to fit into the neighborhood. A quick look inside and there looks to be ample attention to quality there as well.
Continue reading "Coeur d'Alene: Winter at the Ice Plant (Townhomes) " »
We're nearly finished with February and while the sun's setting later and later each day cabin fever is setting in. So to compensate we're hitting the road and heading east to the Coeur d'Alene area this week. We'll be taking a look around, checking in on projects and and bringing it all back to you.
Got a place you want us to check out? We do take requests.
If the data dump that is Web 2.0 still hasn't quite taken it's toll on you, then we've one more real estate mashup to show you.
Consider this scenario: You're moving to Spokane (you know you want to), fresh out of college, degree in hand and you need an apartment to rent. You're well past the days of living 5 to a place like you did in the 'big city', but the only problem is you're on a tight budget since the student loan money dried up. How will you ever figure out which part of town has the apartment size you want with a rent to match? If you're savvy you'll have visited Zilpy (pronounced 'Zill-pee' in your best Beavis voice), punched in your housing specs (beds/baths/sqf...) and let it do the work. The results will be displayed in an easy to read heat map, chart and tabular format showing you just where the hot rental action is that best meets your needs. There's more to discover, but we'll let you figure it out. Highest priced 2 beds? West Hills. Who knew? One way to improve: Give a walkscore for the results as well.
The latest Rencorp-ed warehouse conversion is on Pacific near Browne Street just across the street from their home base. The small cluster of old warehouses around there is gradually getting the once over and new businesses are breathing life, activity and (dare we say) a more positive vibe to the area. Fast on the tail of The Edge, the latest building Rencorp has brought back online is a simple two-story jobber now housing Studio Cascade on the top floor and Purple Turtle on the street level. Throw in a ballet studio, winery, a furniture store, a homeless shelter, and a coffee roaster and you've got as much eclectic urban edge as you'll ever find around here. And we didn't even mention the garbage car.
The sign is up and the finishing touches are being applied on the inside at the new Melting Pot on Main and Post. According to their website the Florida-based chain is shooting for a grand opening on March 5th and by the look of the place this afternoon they'll likely make it. Speaking of the interior space think dark, rich colors all sparsely lit. We have to wonder what effect the smell of warm Wisconsin Cheddar will have on people working out across the skywalk at OZ Fitness.
More interior pics below...
Continue reading "Sneak Peek: New Melting Pot means ample cheese just around the corner" »
From the TIPLINE a reader writes:
"If ever land values in downtown or elsewhere become explosive here's what to do for parking: PerfectPark.comAccording to the manufacturer, costs come in at around $3m for the mechanical portion, and $1-2m for the construction of the silo. It parks 108 cars."
At that rate the cost/space would work out to about $37K/space. For comparison the Riverpark Square with it's 1,304 spots at $29 million comes in at $22K/space. So it's still obviously pretty pricey for our relatively low land values here. Throw in an abundance of basalt under our feet and it might drive the pricetag up even more. It's a pretty innovative system though and makes us wish we seen one of the original Pigeon Hole Parking systems (that were invented here in Spokane) in operation back in the 50-70s. Ample, easy and cheap parking must be in our community's DNA. Fast fwd video to 2:05 to see the system in operation.
Whether visitor or longtime resident, anyone who has driven in and around downtown has had to deal with the annoyance of the one-way streets. The one-way streets you enjoy today are actually a result of downtown's first master plan completed in 1961 (we love eBay). The plan, known as the Ebasco Plan, developed the strategy of a twin inner-loop system of one-way couplets cons
isting of an outer-loop (Spokane Falls Blvd-Monroe-1st-Washington) moving traffic in a counter-clockwise direction while the inner-loop (Main-Stevens-Sprague-Lincoln) circulated clockwise. These one-way couplets were suggested to be implemented first because, according to the plan it would reduce accidents and delays at troublesome intersections. Forty years later we're not sure if this has been the result or not.
Well the National Association of Realtors released the figures yesterday for Q42007 Median Sales Prices in metropolitan areas across the U.S. The good news is sure-n-steady Spokane is still holding our own here in the Inland NW. The Spokane/CDA metropolitan area fell in the middle of other northwest cities with a 2.6% increase over the same quarter last year (table above) to a median price of $194K. That increase paled in comparison to Yakima who was the shiny bright spot in Washington with an 18% increase followed by Kennewick-Richland-Pasco with a 14% increase.
From 2005 to 2007 the median price here in Spokane has jumped from $156.4k to $193.7k a $37,000 increase(24%). Suh-na-fah beyatch.
This one's a stretch
, but since it involves a google maps mashup of Spokane then we figured we're covered. Today's topic is Fundrace 2008, and it's a pretty cool way to see who's backin' who in the recent caucuses for el Presidente. Zoom in on Spokane, enter a zipcode, name or address and you'll have hours of fun discovering who's backing who in your town and how much they're throwing down. Let's just say south of I-90 the nabes are active. Happy snooping.
Scattered throughout downtown virtually under your feet is a throwback to the earliest days of the city: granite curbs, baby. Yeah, we know they're just curbs - blocky, rectangular, curbs. But in fact they are part of the historic and visual character of our public space, much like the brick roads that peak out from underneath the asphalt. At one time probably all of downtown's curbs were made of granite, and gradually over the years they've been torn-up, sent to a landfill and replaced with concrete. The blocks you see were probably quarried locally (by hand) around 100 years ago, and are either Silver Lake granite, quarried out near Medical Lake, or Little Spokane granite which was quarried up north near the Little Spokane River. Next time you're walking about keep your eyes out for the last remaining ones...
[Just take the 5 minutes to watch this...]
So, with each passing month it seems like another building is going for some kind of LEED certification here in town. Sustainable design is here and even the SHBA are pushing ahead with their own Built Green initiative. Downtown, the Saranac Hotel's emphasis on sustainable design is impressive. If you haven't walked through it you're missing out. We're doing some things well here in Spokane.
Then we heard of the Masdar Initiative and the scale of Abu Dhabi's efforts to reinvent itself as the world leader in renewable and sustainable energy. The city they're building - Masdar- will be all new and by 2016 will be home for roughly 50,000 people. Masdar will have:
Oh, did you hear that Dodge is rolling out a completely redesigned Challenger? It's friggen' sweet...
[Via Steven Meek Architects]
MANITO - We're not sure what happened to the Montrose, but these renderings for the appropriately named Manito Park Place Condominiums will just have to do. Located on 20th and Grand [GMAP] you just might confuse them with Pioneer Park Place or Manito Court for that matter...but don't. The Manito Park Place Condos are (conceptually) sportin' 27 units across 4 floors with loads of brick and possibly a little space for retail. These renderings are by Steven Meek architects who designed another well known corner building you might recognize. Units range from 900sqf-1800sqf. No word on price, or construction date.
More renderings below-->
Continue reading "Sneak Peak: Manito Park Place bringin' some townhouse flavor" »
SPOKANE VALLEY - Ahhh...East Sprague Avenue out in the Valley: Ten miles of wide-open public right-of-way flanked by some of the lowest low-rise development and some of the biggest building setbacks you'll ever see. It's the antithesis of urban in every way and if you're a pedestrian, forget it. Things may be changing however.
Continue reading "Sprague and Appleway - Someday there'll be a 'there' there" »
[Image courtesy of Todd Sackmann via the MetroSpokane Photo Pool ]
Think you know Spokane? Prove it. Welcome to a new feature here on MetroSpokane. We put up a current or historic image of an intersection in Spokane and you email us the correct name of the intersection. First person to correctly identify the intersection wins a sweet T-Shirt from Spokaloo.net
This is an area we only recently discovered due to a tip from a friend of ours. We're starting out with a tough one. Email us your guess and at 3pm we'll unveil the answer and the winner.
UPDATE: So we thought this one would have most of you stumped. The photo above is looking west down 5th Ave at the intersection of 5th and Fiske [GMAP]. Overall four people guessed correctly, but the first one with the correct answer was Josh Hall.
Josh says:
"On E. 5th, inbetween Fiske and Havanna in the E. Central Neighborhood - I get my hair cut there, at Larry's Barbershop!"
And David Blaine had this tibit of history to add:
"Now a ghost town but there was a time when I lived on 5th and Magnolia and a trip down to Little Taste Of Philly for a cheesesteak and Horesman's store for some cheap beer was the highlight of an evening. There is also a foreboding, windowless Masonic Temple nearby."
We underestimated just how well you know this city...a mistake we will not repeat! Thanks to all for playing.
UNIVERSITY DISTRICT - As
mentioned last week, to the untrained eye Trent and Hamilton looks sleepy and still recovering from the previous 100 year bender of railroad/industrial use. Look a little closer though, and you'll see that it's a virtual hotbed of activity. The Habitat parcel is on the market, portions of the old Bayou Building have been renovated for office space, and the rehab of the Iron Bridge may. finally. have. some. momentum. behind. it. For grins top it all off with the Iron Bridge condos next door.
Speaking of the I.B.C., a visit over there to check in on the happenings left this impression: Huge Windows. There's really nothing else to say. OK, well there's the expected brick and massive wood beams that come with it being a ~100 year old building, 22 foot ceilings, and if you're interested only four of the 12 units are reserved. Even if you're not check out the surprisingly functional and informative website. Shells start at $250K.
More pics below --->
Continue reading "Touching Base: Iron Bridge Condos now with windows" »
[NOTE: Embedded video was disabled on YouTube-you can view it via this link ]
WEST PLAINS - OK, let's see a show of hands: How many of you out there were aware we're in the process of fund raising for a new museum...ahem...an aerospace museum? That's what we thought. We'd heard bits and pieces but only recently saw the sweet 3D video-clip on YouTube of what the place might look like, and we like what we see. It's to be located on the West Plains adjacent to I-90 at the intersection of Electric Ave & Geiger Blvd [GMAP]. If you've ever driven by the Spruce Goose down in McMinville, OR you'll understand why.
The complex is big measuring in at around 123,000-square-feet when all phases are completed, and will have loads of glass that should help display the thirty-two suspended and parked aircraft from the collection. One that won't be 'under-roof' will be the massive B-52 parked out in front of the building. Still, it should make for a pretty memorable landmark for visitors entering Spokane from the West (e.g. "...and take the exit after the big plane..."). To date only $1.3 million of the $5.8 million Phase I cost has been raised. The project overall is expected to run upwards of $30 million when complete. It's also expected to attract between 50,000 and 100,000 visitors annually according to the Journal of Biz. If you're interested in seeing what local players have kicked in to help this thing get built you can view the list [pdf]. If you're interested in having your name added feel free to donate.
[Photo 'leveraged' from Cinemafia]
Spokane is in the midst of reinventing itself. We're attempting to migrate from the resource-based economy of yesteryear to one more focused on knowledge (read research, patents, biotech, etc.). One thing is for certain and that is our region's economy gets dissed a lot because of an abundance of service industry positions.
At first glance it seems like a dire situation. The real money is in recruiting the Blue-Rays or whomever to settle in our fertile valley here in Spokane...or is it. Richard Florida, known for his astute observations and research on the creative class, thinks service industry-based economies may have something more going for them. He's raising some interesting questions regarding service economies up in Toronto. Can they be the well paying manufacturing jobs of today? Why or why not? He questions:
"Why not say, from a research and development standpoint, from an innovation standpoint, from a job security standpoint, from a flexible work environment standpoint: How do we make our service sector thrive?
"How do we develop a regional strategy to strengthen this? No one's ever done this."
It's an interesting topic to ponder. We have a lot of service work here why not embrace it and do as he says. If you could make $23/hour+ in a service position would you work it?
