July 19, 2017

Local group turning Spokane hotel into Ridpath Club Apartments

Rendering from Ron Wells Group [enlarge]

Ridpath Club Apartments will have 206 units, including some micros, on the first 11 floors and in an adjacent five-story building. The top two floors of the hotel will have luxury micro units and private condos.

A group of investors is developing 206 apartments, including micro units, and commercial space in the former Ridpath Hotel at 515 W. Sprague in downtown Spokane.

They have started construction on Ridpath Club Apartments, which will be on the first 11 floors of the 13-story hotel and in an adjacent five-story building that was constructed in 1894.

The group is Spokane developer and architect Ron Wells, Mickey Brown, preservation advocate Paul Mann, and attorney Jim Topliff.

They estimate the project will cost $22.9 million, including what they paid for the hotel space and annex, which were condominiumized in 2008.

Ron Wells Group is the architect, Baker Construction & Development is the contractor, and Black Realty Management is the property manager.

R4 Capital and R4 Capital Funding arranged over $16 million in debt and equity financing for the project. R4 Capital is a national affordable housing tax-credit syndicator, lender and asset manager. R4 Capital Funding is its tax-exempt debt platform.

The rest of the financing is equity from the four investors and loans of $1.75 million and $2 million, respectively, from the city of Spokane and Washington State Housing Finance Commission.

The project will have 106 micro studios with 250 to 280 square feet; 46 studios with 335 square feet; 53 one-bedroom units ranging from 500 to 1,200 square feet; and one 1,400-square-foot two-bedroom unit.

Twenty-seven units will be market rate, and rent from $625 to $1,595. The rest will be for people with incomes of $20,000 to $30,000, as is required by the financing. Those rents will be $435 to $650, Wells said. All the rents include utilities.

According to the developer, it's relatively easy to convert the hotel rooms into micro apartments because they already have large windows, bathrooms and air conditioning. Kitchens with quartz countertops and undermount stainless steel sinks will be installed as part of the historic renovation.

There will be 30 parking stalls for tenants and space for Zipcars in the garage. A block away is a bus transit center and the skywalk system that connects downtown.

Wells said the amenities in Ridpath Club Apartments are rare for an affordable property: a 110-year-old marble indoor swimming pool, the Brasserie restaurant and Octopus Gin Bar, a bakery/cafe, a community lounge and a 16-seat theater for residents.

The project is expected to be done in April 2018, but the apartments will be rented as they are completed. The 10th and 11th floors will open in October.

The Spokesman-Review reports that the Ridpath Hotel was opened by Col. William Ridpath in 1900, and rebuilt after a fire in 1902. It was nearly destroyed again by fire in 1950 and rebuilt as the tower it is today. The tower was designed by San Francisco architect Ned Hyman Abrams.

It was a key location for dances and political events, and was visited by celebrities including Elvis and Michael Jackson.

The hotel closed in 2008 and over the next decade fell into disrepair, according to the newspaper.

Wells said a market study by O'Connor Consulting Group of Seattle shows strong demand for apartments in downtown, where there are only about 2,500. He said he expects the micro units will be especially popular “because they're so affordable.”

People are moving to Spokane from high priced areas like Seattle and Southern California, he said, with the largest in-migration from the Puget Sound region.

Rents at Ridpath Club Apartments “are laughable for Seattle,” said Wells. He noted that 376 people responded to an ad about renting the apartments.

The University of Washington School of Medicine and the new Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine are helping to drive the economy of downtown Spokane, he said, as is expansion of the medical services sector, which includes Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital and MultiCare Deaconess Hospital.

Wells, Mann and local investor Mark Mackin bought the Ridpath Hotel's top two floors for $500,000, and are creating residential condos for themselves on the 13th floor.

On the 12th floor, Macklin is turning six hotel rooms into luxury micro apartments that will have high-end appliances and finishes, and Wells is doing the same with 15 hotel rooms. Rents for the 250- to 280-square-foot apartments will be $950 to $1,150, including utilities.

Wells said he expects the renters will be professionals, executives and people who perhaps have a house on a lake in northern Idaho or Eastern Washington, but work in Spokane.

Ron Wells Group is the architect and contractor on the top two floors, which are expected to be complete in October.

Wells has rehabilitated historic properties in Spokane and was awarded a National Honor from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for his work on the 1916 Steam Plant Square, which now has offices, a restaurant and a brew pub.