Urban center plans move ahead

Spokane Valley leaders are looking for the next step in ambitious plans to create an urban center in their sprawling suburb of 87,000.

After spending more than $400,000 for an ongoing redevelopment plan for Sprague Avenue, the City Council will consider hiring another consultant to help assemble a jigsaw puzzle of individual lots into a single site appealing enough for a developer to make a city center a reality.

“We know that we are not experts in the technical, land portion of this. So we want to make sure we have the proper technical expertise,” said Councilman Steve Taylor.

In September, urban design expert Michael Freedman recommended that a city center be located on several mostly unused acres south of Sprague and east of University.

He also provided city leaders with three options for how the city might build it. The least risky involves putting in place design and land-use restrictions that builders would have to follow as they redevelop the land. The second option would use city funds for things like infrastructure and civic buildings in addition to the regulations to entice investment in the center.

The final option involves Spokane Valley buying the land, or otherwise gaining control of what happens to it, so the city can choose a developer to build the city center in a way that meets its goals. This last technique has been the most effective means to build city centers in other communities, Freedman said, and it got the preliminary nod from the council.

“It’s kind of a ‘Yes, until I see the figures’ type of thing,” said Councilman Bill Gothmann.

The city would have to create the right conditions to attract investors to that kind of public/private project.

“My understanding is that a consultant would provide that kind of atmosphere that we need,” he said.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, members will discuss a proposal to spend between $20,000 and $50,000 for an expert to negotiate with landowners and work out agreements that could lead to city center development.

There are more than a dozen lots in the general area being considered for the center. Six are owned by the same investors that own the University City Mall, three belong to developers Lloyd and Sharon Torgerson, and other property owners include the Klaue Family Partnership and Stanley Sullivan, according to county property records.

Existing businesses on the site include Appleway Florist and Greenhouse, a Farmers and Merchants Bank and a gas station.

“We just won’t know until we really sit down with the property owners and see what their objectives are,” said Spokane Valley planner Scott Kuhta.

If an owner in the middle of the site finds a tenant for his property, it could throw a wrench into the plans.

Likewise, if the city is obviously interested in buying several pieces of land, it runs the risk of a key landowner jacking up the price at the last minute.

Much of what the consultant would do, Kuhta said, would involve persuading landowners that developing the center would eventually benefit all the parties involved. Purchase options or other agreements could save the city from actually buying all of the property and then selling it to a developer.

“You couldn’t build a city center right now, regulations wouldn’t allow it,” Kuhta said. “By doing that, it will make the land significantly more valuable.”

The consultant contract would run to the end of the year.

As the details of the project and the risks involved come more clearly into view, Taylor and others on the council said they would closely look at costs and feedback from the public before deciding what to do.

For now, though, discussions are focusing on a proactive approach to creating a true center for Spokane Valley.

“This is an awesome opportunity for our city. These types of development are working in other communities. It could really be a community-defining endeavor,” Taylor said.