A Spokane Valley developer is proposing a $23.2 million, 216-unit apartment complex on Kalispel tribal land in Airway Heights.

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission has scheduled a public hearing June 7 in Seattle to consider issuing up to $13.3 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds to provide financing toward the project.

The complex, to be called Copper Landing, would be located west of Hayford Road, about a half-mile south of the Kalispel Tribe's Northern Quest Resort & Casino.

The applicant, Copper Landing LLC, would lease the development site from the Kalispel Tribe. Copper Landing is affiliated with Inland Group PS, a Spokane Valley developer and contractor that specializes in building multifamily housing and mixed-use complexes.

Jason Hennigan, senior development analyst with the housing commission, says conceptual plans show the project would include nine three-story buildings, each with 24 apartment units.

Apartments would have one to three bedrooms with a proposed monthly rent schedule of $615 to $790, Hennigan says.

The units would be reserved for residents who earn less than 60 percent of the median area income, he says. For example, the current annual income limit for an individual to qualify as a tenant would be $26,460, and the income limit for a four-person household to qualify would be $37,700, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's income-and-rent schedule for Spokane County shows.

The project site is on a portion of nearly 300 acres of land the tribe owns west of Hayford Road, most of which is undeveloped land south of Northern Quest.

Brandon Haugen, development manager with the Kalispel Tribal Economic Authority, says the tribe is proposing to lease the development site to Inland Group through an agreement that would be the first of its kind on the tribe's trust land.

"What's now being contemplated is an apartment community to be developed by Inland Group," he says. "Copper Landing will be considered a high-quality, affordable-housing apartment community similar to what's been developed on the South Hill at Copper Hill."

Inland Group's construction affiliate was the contractor on that 232-unit complex, at 3210 E. 44th, which originally was called Palouse Family apartments before the project was completed last year.

Scott Morris, a development team member at Inland Group, says the developer and the Kalispel Tribal Economic Authority are trying to work out remaining issues with the city of Airway Heights concerning connections with the city's water, sewer, and roads.

Inland hopes to begin construction in late summer or early fall, he says, adding that The Architects Office PLLC, of Boise, designed the project.

Haugen says the state housing commission would need to approve financing before a lease agreement between the tribe and the developer could be finalized.

The housing commission's Hennigan says, if the commission approves the bond issue, interest received by banks or investors that buy the bonds would be exempt from income tax. In exchange for the tax-free income for the investor, the borrower would secure interest rates that likely would be below-market rates.

"We commonly see an interest savings of 1 to 2 percentage points for the borrower," he says.

The project also would generate up to $7.9 million in federal tax credit equity, Hennigan says. Investors who buy tax credits can deduct the credits from their income-tax liabilities, while the developers can use such equity toward funding for qualified projects, he says.

Derrick Braaten, development services director with the city of Airway Heights, says that the project falls under the tribe's jurisdiction as far as most planning and building issues go.

"The only things we're engaged in with the project are permitting of water and sewer systems and access off the property," Braaten says.

The city is reviewing a traffic impact analysis of the project, he says.

"We're trying to coordinate it with other projects as far as transportation impacts," Braaten says.

Braaten says Airway Heights has a shortage of affordable multifamily housing. The monthly rental rate for newer multifamily units in Airway Heights ranges between $800 and $1,200, he says, adding, "There aren't even that many older multifamily units in the affordable range."

Haugen says the tribe's goal is to provide a solid economic case to locate the project in Airway Heights.

"There's still some work to do to provide cost-effective utility and transportation infrastructure to be competitive with similar sites in other communities," he says.

The proposed Copper Landing site is adjacent to a 25-acre site that Catholic Charities of Spokane recently announced it has agreed to purchase for a planned $26 million mix of multifamily, single-family, and factory-built homes it would develop in collaboration with two other nonprofits.

That development is planned as part of The Fairchild Air Force Base Accident Potential Zone Relocation Project, which was formed to provide alternative housing options for roughly 600 people currently living in mobile homes and apartments south of U.S. 2, east of the base.

Haugen says Copper Landing would be separate and independent from that relocation project. He asserts, however, that Copper Landing would be a highly sought after apartment community that would serve as a catalyst for future development.