A limited partnership formed by Spokanes Wells & Co. and Avista Development Inc., also of Spokane, plans to renovate the former Rodeway Inn City Center into a high-tech office building that would be part of whats becoming known as the Terabyte Triangle zone downtown.


The estimated $4.6 million project would follow a similar, collaborative redevelopment effort by those two companies involving the Steam Plant Square retail-office complex, where most of the high-tech office space now has been leased out. Wells just one month ago announced plans to convert several older buildings west of Steam Plant Square into the Freeman Center, a $4.5 million retail-office complex equipped for high-tech communications.


We really want to underscore that we want this to be another part of the Terabyte Triangle that brings high-tech tenants downtown, says developer Ron Wells, who owns Wells & Co. with his wife, Julie.


The Terabyte Triangle idea, conceived by Eastern Washington University professor Steve Simmons, is to revitalize downtown by providing it with high-speed Internet service, private fiber-optic infrastructure, and state-of-the-art communications systems to attract office tenants with high-bandwidth needs. Though the infrastructure for that now is available beneath many downtown streets, not all buildings in the district have taken advantage of it.


The longtime 78-room motel is located at the southeast corner of First Avenue and Lincoln Street, just across First from the landmark Davenport Hotel, which Worthy Enterprises Inc., of Spokane, is renovating. The motel building is a U-shaped, three-story structure with inward-facing rooms that overlook a large, concrete parking area.


The property also includes a 22-space parking garage, directly beneath the building, and a 37-space adjoining parking lot to the east. Ron Wells says he is talking with Worthy about jointly developing a parking garage in that area that would serve both the Davenport and the new office building, which is to be called Courtyard Office Suites.


Avista Development bought the motel property six years ago after an oil spill from parent Avista Corp.s former central steam plant was found to have spread there. Oil-spill cleanup work was completed in 1998, although some monitoring wells and underground equipment continue to operate there. The motel closed in June 1999, and the 38,000-square-foot building has remained vacant since then.


A couple of months ago, Avista Development transferred ownership of the property to Courtyard Office Suites LP, which was formed jointly by Wells & Co. and Avista and will redevelop the property. Wells is designing the project and also will be the general contractor. Global Credit Union will provide financing for the project, Ron Wells says.


The focal point of the redeveloped building will be a landscaped and terraced courtyard that all of the office suites will overlook.


We know that it will be real intriguing outdoor space, where tenants can talk or relax, Wells says.


Much of the concrete parking lot where the courtyard is to be located will be refinished with porcelain tile, and greenery and tables also will be added, he says. A swimming pool in a raised deck above the entrance to the underground parking lot will be filled in or covered, and the deck will be updated to match the rest of the courtyard. Although parking will be eliminated in most of the courtyard area, a vehicle drive-through loop on the north side of the courtyard next to First Avenue will be retained.


Probably the most noticeable upgrade to the building itself will be a new glass facade that will be installed along the portion of the buildings exterior that faces the courtyard. That facade will be positioned along the outside edge of currently exposed walkways that had provided access to the motel rooms on each level, Wells says. Plans also call for a number of balconies to be installed that will look down onto the courtyard, and Wells says a dramatic new interior stairway will add to the buildings character.


Kim Pearman-Gillman, senior vice president of Avista Development, says shes pleased that a promising new use has been found for the once-problematic motel property, and she contends that its now the place to be, given the long-awaited Davenport Hotel renovation going on just across the street. She says she expects Courtyard Office Suites to have a techy funky look, but one that blends well with neighboring buildings.


Wells & Co. has been doing general-cleanup and asbestos-removal work at the former motel site over the last two months, and expects to begin renovation work there in mid-December. Some office space there should be ready to occupy by Feb. 1, Wells says. The project completion date will depend on how quickly the building leases up, since that will dictate the timetable for individual tenant-space improvements, he says. He adds, though, that he hopes to have the project completed by next July.


The building will be targeted at tenants who need comparatively small, but flexible office spaceavailable, in this case, in 300-square-foot incrementswith high-tech communications infrastructure. One of the buildings wings also will be set up specifically with startup businesses in mind, offering shared support services and lease periods as short as one month, Wells says.