Multifamily housing options on the West Plains aren't keeping up with the growth of jobs or people in the area, says developer Chris Bornhoft, who is behind the construction of a 36-unit complex dubbed Fairways Apartments, in the West Terrace neighborhood in west Spokane County.

"With the Amazon facilities and with the Harlan Douglass Legacy Park facilities and other industrial, we just see this movement toward the community out there," says Bornhoft. "There aren't a lot of apartments that have been built out there around the Air Force base and around Spokane International Airport."

Crews from Spokane-based contractor James W. Elmer Construction Co. have finished framing the 32,200-square-foot structure and have started installing the roof, windows, and plumbing connections. Builders will start work on the electrical systems, insulation, and drywall next.

Construction began in June and will be completed in July 2024, says Bornhoft. 

All of the apartments are two-bedroom units averaging 900 square feet in size with 9-foot ceilings and an open floor plan. The complex is pet-friendly, and each unit will have a 200-square-foot garage, he says.

Development plans for the site, located at 9907 W. Aero Road, began in 2020. The previous land owners--Jensen Real Estate Investors Inc., which was previously affiliated with Jensen Distribution Services--originally envisioned a 24-unit townhome community at the site, he says.

Rex Anderson, of Spokane-based Fusion Architecture PLLC, designed a townhome project for the Jensen family.

 "They've owned that property for many years and approached us about helping them with the development," explains Bornhoft. He adds that, in the two years it took to complete a short plat and zone change from light industrial to medium density residential, the owner's interest in the project had waned.

Bornhoft, who also owns Spokane-based real estate company Bornhoft Commercial, purchased the site through a separate business entity, West Plains Partners LLC, he says. Tax information on file with the state of Washington shows West Plains Partners bought the 2.3-acre property for $454,000 in September 2022.

Anderson helped Bornhoft come up with designs for higher-density building alternatives. 

"With all of the costs that were involved with this particular site, we felt like it would be better to try to increase the density in order to spread those costs out over a larger number of units," says Bornhoft.

Spokane County permit application information shows an estimated construction valuation of $3.4 million for the apartment and garage structures.

Multifamily development has been slow to keep up with growth on the West Plains because developments in the area, such as the Fairways Apartments, have to contend with poor stormwater drainage. Bornhoft says he was challenged to balance the building area with the dedicated space required for stormwater retention.

"We spent a fair amount of time doing different modeling and blocking to try to maximize the buildable area," he says. "The county will not allow the use of dry wells out there anymore. They require that you do these big evaporation ponds, so we had to put in ... essentially a swimming pool for stormwater."

The project was named after the former 18-hole golf course that lies south of the property, which now operates as a nine-hole course under a new name.

"Ironically, they changed the name of the Fairways Golf Course to the Plains Golf Course. You can see the golf course from the second and third floors, so it is still the Fairways Apartments as long as they keep that golf course around," says Bornhoft.

Project updates:

*A building permit for a new 36,800-square-foot hangar for Spokane-based aerial firefighting company Aero-Flite Inc. is now in plan review, following a pre-development conference application filed with the city of Spokane in September, permit information shows.

Since September, the plans for a maintenance facility, located at 8520 W. Electric, at Spokane International Airport, have expanded 6,800 square feet in size from the original 30,000-square-foot hangar plans, permit information shows. The cost estimate remains at $8.7 million, according to permit information.

As previously reported in the Journal, the hangar will support Aero-Flite's fleet expansion to 14 aircraft next year. 

*A portion of the old production facility for the Spokesman-Review, located at 1 N. Monroe in downtown Spokane, will be converted to indoor pickleball courts, city of Spokane permit information shows.

Cowles Real Estate is developing six pickleball courts that will occupy over 13,000 square feet in the southwest corner of the building. The tenant improvements were designed by Spokane-based MMEC Architecture & Interiors LLC and are valued at $200,000, design plans show.

The Press Pickleball Club is anticipated to open this month, according to the company's website.