The Spokane City Council is expected at a June 23 hearing to declare as surplus 48 acres of property it owns at the site of the former Playfair Race Course, at 300 N. Altamont in East Spokane, clearing the way for the city to sell or lease out the property for private development. The property is most of the 63-acre site.


City Economic Development Director Theresa Sanders says once the property is declared surplus, the city plans to seek proposals for redevelopment of the site, with an eye to selling the property.


Sanders says she expects the city to receive proposals for the property by next month, and a review committee then will consider the proposals.


I think well get some great proposals back, Sanders says.


The city will consider all proposals, using information from a study it has commissioned from Los Angeles-based real estate services company CB Richard Ellis, to determine the best possible uses for the land, Sanders says.


Preliminary reports from that study suggest the site would best be used for industrial applications and highlight the potential use of nearby rail lines for shipping, she says.


Essentially they are looking at what we would anticipate, Sanders says.


The study report has been sent back to CB Richard Ellis for revisions and should be complete before the hearing, city spokeswoman Marlene Feist says.


In the preliminary report, CB Richard Ellis estimated roughly the amount of revenue the land could generate for the city, but the city wont set a minimum bid amount, Sanders says.


She says the citys public works department will keep a 15-acre triangle on the eastern side of the property for possible storm-water storage.


Playfair closed as a horse-racing venue in 2001. The city bought the Playfair property in 2004 for $6.3 million for storm-water storage, Feist says.


Also at the time, Spokane County was considering using the land for development of a new sewage-treatment plant, and the city also considered building such a facility there as a satellite facility, she says.


The county later chose the former Stockyards site located near Trent Avenue and Freya Street for that expansion.


Contact Jeanne Gustafson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at jeanneg@spokanejournal.com.