A group of investors that includes Spokane architect Glen A. Cloninger and downtown property owner K. Wendell Reugh is proposing a $50 million high-rise office tower to be built at one of two sites in the city center.


The envisioned project is one of several tower projects that different developers now are said to be studying for downtown sites. At least one Seattle-area developer reportedly is looking inland at the prospect of developing an office tower here, although the name of that developer hasnt surfaced yet. Meanwhile, Spokane developer Rob Brewster Jr., the first to propose a downtown tower project publicly, says he still is pursuing the possibility of building a $35 million-to-$40 million high-rise office structure.


Cloninger, Reugh, and their partners own most of the land at the two potential development sites theyre eyeing, one at the southeast corner of Howard Street and Riverside Avenue, where the Rookery Building now standsthe same site that Brewster has been eyeingand another along Spokane Falls Boulevard across from the citys Opera House, Convention Center, and Ag Trade Center.


Were trying to figure out which is the best site, says Cloninger, who owns the Glen A. Cloninger & Associates architectural firm here. I do think these are the two best sites in downtown Spokane for a high-rise office structure, he says.


Cloninger says both sites have been well-received by prospective tenants and potential lenders, but cautions that a project at either site is only a proposal at this time.


Cloninger refers to the Rookery site as downtowns financial bulls eye because of its proximity to other financial and professional office buildings. The Spokane Falls Boulevard site, which is twice the size of the Rookery site, is the people bulls eye of downtown, he says, because of its proximity to the Opera House, Convention Center, Ag Trade Center, and Riverfront Park.


At the Rookery site, the group envisions a high-rise structure taking up the entire city block, which is bordered on the north by Riverside, on the west by Howard, on the south by Sprague, and on the east by Stevens. Reugh owns most of the buildings on that block, including the Rookery Building, the Mohawk Building, and the Merton Block, all of which are mostly vacant. The only buildings he doesnt own on that block are the six-story Fernwell Building, at 505 W. Riverside, and a small structure that houses Gabbys Irish Home & Grill, at 514 W. Sprague.


Brewster held an option to buy that property earlier this year, but allowed that option to lapse a few months ago. Brewsters vision for that property involves building a 25-story skyscraper that would take up all of the block except the Fernwell Building. He says he now is looking at other potential tower-development sites downtown, but hasnt ruled out the Rookery site.


At the Spokane Falls Boulevard site, Cloninger says he owns or has ownership interest in about 60 percent of the block, which is bordered by Spokane Falls Boulevard, Washington Street, Main Avenue, and Bernard Street.


Currently located on that land are a 300-car parking lot and one building, which houses the Arizona Steakhouse restaurant.


Cloninger says the groups current proposal for that site calls for two office towers at the west end of that property, one of which would be 27 stories tall and another that would be 19 stories tall. Cloninger says its too early to say whether the towers would be built in phases or all at once.


That land currently is earmarked to be used for expansion of the convention center, but Cloninger says his group hopes to meet with the city of Spokane to discuss other alternatives. He says its premature to discuss specifics about those alternatives, but the group will propose that the city move its proposed convention center expansion to the city block just east of where the skyscraper development would be located.


If that happened, he suggests, the city and the Cloninger-Reugh group could join forces to build a five-story parking structure at the east end of the same block on which the proposed tower development would be located. The big parking garage would be used both by tower tenants and people attending events at the public buildings and, as proposed by the tower proponents, would include between 1,200 and 1,400 parking spots.


Cloninger declines to disclose the potential tenants with which the Cloninger-Reugh group has spoken, but says, Im sure theyre the same tenants that everybody else has been talking to.


Paine, Hamblen, Coffin, Brooke & Miller LLP, a Spokane law firm, and Avista Corp., of Spokane, both have been identified as major potential tenants for a new skyscraper.


Paine Hamblen has said that it needs up to 60,000 square feet of Class A office space and wants to be involved if a new high rise is built in the citys core.


Shaun Cross, managing partner for the aggressively growing regional law practice, says a couple of new developers have come forward in the past two weeks with tower proposals. He declines to name the prospective developers, but says interested parties from the Seattle area have approached the firm about being a tenant in a tower that would be developed here.


Avista, which has a couple of rapidly growing affiliates that need more space, has been tabbed as a potential tenant by Brewster and others.


Avista spokesman Steve Becker says the company is evaluating many different opportunities, but declines to comment on whether it is considering taking space in any of the proposed office towers downtown. He says a number of developers have pitched potential sites in different parts of the Spokane area for a major project in which Avista could expand.


Cloninger saysand others also have claimedthat the Spokane market can support only one new high-rise office building at this time. Similarly, he and others have said that one of the proposed skyscrapers will move forward soon.


Within 12 months, somebody will announce their project, Cloninger says. We just hope that its us.