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[Dead Mall courtesy: CLUI & Steve Rowell]
Malls are evolving. The old model, last implemented in Spokane Valley in 1997 and refreshed in Northtown in the past few years, is dead. The future for malls is topless as in "lifestyle centers" and "towncenters" where the offering is not only shopping and dining, but also housing and public areas. It's all open air baby.
Continue reading "Enclosed malls dead...the future is topless" »
Today a cry for help, dear readers. Cruising over on the SkyscraperPage Forum, we read the following message from a soon to be transplant from Tempe, AZ. The writer, known to us only as SunDevil, looks to be attending Gonzaga in the fall and has a few questions about our fair city:
"Moving up to Spokane in August! Was wondering what some of your thoughts are on where to live. I would like to live downtown since it's close to school, Gonzaga. However, I have been told NOT to live downtown. Is it really that bad? Moving up from Tempe, AZ I was wondering what to expect as far as rent in the area, here it's about $780 for a 2 br 1 bath 660 sq. ft. in a not too nice part of town."
So have at it all you readers and lurkers. Now is you're chance to share that surplus of useful Spokane knowledge you've built up over the years. In the comments section give our new friend the lowdown on places to check out for living. Be sure and talk neighborhoods, rent, number of rooms, etc.
One big event last week was the news that the Friends of the Falls has met its funding goals for the whitewater park - a key priority of the Great Spokane River Gorge Plan (table of contents - pdf 3.3 mb). For all the obvious reasons (final design, permitting, construction of the park) we're thrilled about this huge milestone. Everyone knows that city planning often gets a bad rap when plans go unfulfilled. Implementation, friends, is what it's all about and this should be suh-weet sound to our city's residents. According to a quote from Steve Faust - Director of Friends of the Falls:
“Given the time needed to permit the project, we expect to begin construction of the whitewater features and support facilities no earlier than May 2008, with project completion in October 2008”
Continue reading "Why the Great Spokane River Gorge Park Plan will save Highbridge Park..." »
Part of this evening's summer solstice was spent taking in the sights (and the food) over at The Edge Condominiums' open house. At four stories and 30,000 sqf, the building dominates the northwest corner of Sprague and Division in the old Western Soap Building. Truth be told, we were skeptical of this building as a condo conversion, but it works. The place has been stripped down to nothing but concrete and brick for all nineteen of the units. All are unique, including two that are two story lofts with massive windows. And the views are pretty sweet as well. With the building perched up on a basalt ledge and the four stories the view is unobstructed in all directions. And trains to boot!
This one seemed like a no brainer. With all the cool Google mashups out there related to real estate it seems it was only a matter of 'when' not 'if' Google would enter the real estate listing game with the likes of Trulia, Windermere, and the meek Realtor.com. Only Windermere and Trulia use a Google map as their base map, and of the three listed Windermere provides the best and most frequent updates (every 30 minutes). However, Windermere is dependent on the MLS and makes the assumption that everyone wants/needs a realtor.
Our tiki heritage can be summed up in two remaining locations: The Trade Winds Motel on 3rd and Lincoln and the old Tiki Lodge on 2nd and Maple. Everyone who's been downtown via the Lincoln Street exit knows the Trade Winds by the large mural (now mostly obscured by a tree) painted on the backside of the building.
Year number two for the official downtown living tour arrives this weekend. Live It Up! is back. You've read about the projects here all year long now is your chance to visit a few in person this weekend - June 16th and 17th. Two options are available to you - Self-guided or $15 for the Exclusive Tour...
Details:
We had a sneak peek at a few of the projects this week and were floored by some of the design work. Some of the spaces being created are quite incredible. For all you gawkers out there, at a minimum, check out the self-guided tour. It'll be time well spent.
Continue reading "Live It Up - 2007 - Bring yer comfy shoes..." »
Just for grins Google "female real estate developer". The results aren't terribly impressive.
We started pondering this question after a recent Smart City Radio show profiled two women developers: one from Pittsburgh and the other from Boston. Real estate in Spokane is hardly exclusively the domain of men in our area. Look at any classifieds on any Sunday morning and you'll see any number of women representing fine properties and homes throughout our area.
Continue reading "So, uh, where are the women developers?" »
[Photo courtesy Austinspace]
Question: Any idea where the closest agricultural land is in relation to downtown Spokane (answer at the end of the post)?
There's a good chance you're familiar with New Urbanism as a concept (if not check out New Urbanism here). A new movement hoping to strengthen the ties between cities and farms is called New Ruralism. The concept is to blend sustainable agriculture with smart growth policies and it's something that is catching on all over the country. In some places, people are paying dearly for homes in new ruralism-type developments.
For a company that's a wholesaler of hardware tools Jensen-Byrd is synonymous with some pretty cool buildings in downtown Spokane. Aside from the obvious hulk of a warehouse in the University District, it is their other warehouse/office space downtown that has no doubt had the eye of most developers in Spokane at one time or another.
