September 27, 2024

1960s Spokane medical complex converted to 117 apartments

Photo via Brumback [enlarge]

The new apartments today ...

Two blocks south of the freeway in downtown Spokane, QualMed Plaza went up in the mid-1960s. The prominent site, at 508 W. Sixth Ave. , is on the hillside overlooking downtown, a little west of Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

It sold to local developers in the fall of 2019 for $1.2 million, a bargain price.

Now the nine-story former medical offices and attached 15-level structured garage are 117 apartments, dubbed 508 West. The conversion project began leasing in phases, and is now fully open to tenants.

Local shop Brumback was the builder and developer, working with Squire Development of Portland and Steven Meek Architects of Spokane.

Permit records and local media accounts chronicle how construction began in 2021, then was slowed by the pandemic and associated supply-chain difficulties. Throughout, the Sixth Avenue Medical Pharmacy remained open, and now has a better drive-through area. (That's on South Stevens Street.)

The 1964 building, with about 55,000 square feet of medical and dental offices, was designed by William DeNeff. The 43,000-square-foot west garage originally employed valet-serviced car lifts to access 180 stalls. An area survey from Modern Architecture Spokane cites news reports that the parking system soon went haywire, and was retired. Injuries were reported. There's now a limited, unspecified amount of parking.

Units range from a 349-square-foot studio, renting for $1,250 per month, to a two-bed that goes for $1,975; that has 779 square feet.

Amenities include a dog-washing station, package room, guest suite, bike storage, lobby work stations, a gym and more.

Photo via Sixth Avenue Medical Pharmacy [enlarge]

... and what they replaced.

The 508 West conversion team also included KPFF, Kartchner Engineering, Rocky Mountain Crane, Place Landscape, A3 Acoustics, Erik Nelson (the pharmacy owner), Northwest Trends, R&R Heating (HVAC), Gold Seal Mechanical (plumbing), Budinger & Associates (geotechnical engineer), Simpson Engineers, Gold Seal Mechanical, OpenPath and Washington Trust Bank (the construction lender).

The old east offices are now topped by five penthouses and a tenth-floor amenity level with sweeping views of downtown. (A two-bedroom penthouse with 1,198 square feet is listed at $6,000 per month.)

On the west side, in the former garage, floors were selectively removed, Nick Brumback told The Spokesman-Review, to create 13-foot ceiling heights for those 54 loft units. Those units have mezzanines. The original garage was soon abandoned, according to Brumback, becoming useless, vacant space.

Squire Development is led by David Squire, who's also a broker in the Portland office for Newmark. Nick Brumback told the Spokesman-Review in August that the project cost was over $20 million. Brumback itself is a second-generation family company with development and construction arms.