RiverBank seizes Ridpath floors in foreclosure auction

A Spokane bank has inherited large pieces of the shuttered Ridpath Hotel in a move that some hope can begin to untangle ownership problems surrounding the downtown icon and lead to its possible restoration and reopening. A public foreclosure auction Friday in the lobby of the Spokane County Courthouse failed to earn any bids above the opening prices of $875,000 and $125,000 for two upper floors, leaving the parcels as property of RiverBank. Chuck Brooks, chief executive of RiverBank, said the bank would now attempt to find a buyer for the property. RiverBank forced the auction by filing a foreclosure action against Gregory and Kimberly Jeffreys, a Spokane couple that has left a trail of debts across Spokane County and who are now at the center of lawsuits and investigations over multiple projects. The Jeffreys still retain a small property interest in the hotel, which closed in 2008, and was sold off in pieces. City officials have declared the hotel “substandard” and will not let it be occupied until the fire suppression system is fixed.