Washington State University Spokane said it has selected a limited-liability company that includes McKinstry Spokane LLC to redevelop the Jensen-Byrd Building, a long-vacant, six-story warehouse building on the WSU Spokane campus.
The company, named JB LLC, will have the opportunity to negotiate a ground lease for the property, located at 131 E. Main, at the southeast end of the campus.
The Jensen-Byrd Building, which has a total of 179,000 square feet of floor space, is situated on a property that includes three parcels totaling 4.1 acres of land.
McKinstry is involved in the new LLC with Trace Real Estate Services, of Seattle. In its proposal, the new company said it plans to maintain all of primary facades of the original structures, with plans to “maintain this historic structure while transforming it into a showcase facility.”
WSU Spokane didn’t disclose any specific envisioned uses for the site, but said its master plan calls for potential mixed-use development.
Marshall-Wells Hardware Co. built the warehouse building in 1909, and Jensen-Byrd bought the structure in 1958. The WSU Foundation bought the building in 2001 and transferred it to WSU in 2004.
In 2011, WSU agreed to sell the old warehouse building to Austin, Texas-based Campus Advantage, following two failed attempts to revitalize the structure. Campus Advantage had planned to tear down the structure and replace it with a $25 million apartment building, but its purchase of the site later fell through.