Downtown Spokane Partnership President Mike Tedesco, who took over as that organization's top executive last fall, says one of the strengths he brings to his new role is experience working in public-private collaborations to stimulate economic growth.

Tedesco's tenure as executive director of the Pueblo, Colo., Urban Renewal Agency from 2006 to 2010 occurred at a time when that city sought to attract private investment downtown bolstered by a voter-approved city beautification riverwalk project. In an 110,000-population core, the public renewal agency also ran Pueblo's convention center.

"They had an appetite for growth," Tedesco says. "We were closing a lot of deals," including for a residential-commercial project in central Pueblo.

The Spokane native says he'll be working in a slightly different role at DSP, a 70-member nonprofit entity that advocates for downtown initiatives and economic health, as he seeks to foster growth here.

DSP also is under contract with the city of Spokane to administer the roughly 80-block Business Improvement District, which is largely funded by business and property owner assessments to deliver enhanced security and cleanup services as well as to promote downtown.

Tedesco was hired in October after a national search to replace Marty Dickinson, who left DSP after six years to take a corporate marketing communications position at Sterling Savings Bank.

Tedesco says he sees DSP playing a significant role in boosting economic vitality here—through promoting downtown's amenities, attracting new investment, and partnering with such groups as Greater Spokane Incorporated, Visit Spokane, and the growing U-District east of downtown.

"I'm big on being open and receptive to developing public-private partnerships," Tedesco says.

He also is president of the University District board, which he says in December identified three top priorities—new housing projects, development of structured parking garages, and placement of infrastructure and zoning that meets the district's vision for growth.

"Some of these priorities are longer term, but starting in 2012, we're going to submit a work plan and get going on this," he says. "From my perspective, all options are on the table. There's potential for public-private partnerships."

In its 2010-2015 strategic plan, DSP says that it's pursuing six initiatives in partnership with other organizations. Those initiatives include enhanced public services; planning and design; a business development strategy to help generate jobs and economic vitality; a public policy strategy; project administration for the U-District; and a project development strategy. The purpose of the latter strategy, it says, is "to aggressively push necessary projects that activate downtown by securing public and private funding, through ownership and partnership with other entities."

Tedesco says an example of incentives in Pueblo included offering a vacant, publicly-owned parcel for $1 to a developer willing to enter a detailed contract that stipulated what was to be built, and that the property would return to public ownership if the developer didn't perform.

"You're taking a vacated, nontaxable property and you're putting it on the tax rolls, setting the vision for the development," he says.

As for downtown-area growth potential here, Tedesco says one focus is the north bank of the Spokane River, roughly north and northwest of Riverfront Park, including the big Kendall Yards development.

"The north bank is a big opportunity," he says. "It's a unique asset, near the arena. Currently, there is a lot of surface parking. There are infill opportunities," which he described as vacant lots that can be built on or used for parking.

Another priority is fostering revitalization of the vacant Ridpath Hotel, a role DSP can play "to an extent," Tedesco says. However, he adds that the Ridpath is "quite a complicated structure."

Spokane investor Stephen Antonietti is heading up a group offering to buy the 13-story Ridpath, which has fragmented ownership with several sections under foreclosure proceedings. Antonietti says the group has prepared offers to buy several portions of the building this month, and it expects by February to begin some top-floor work to meet city fire and safety concerns for occupancy. It also plans to buy adjacent property for an overall envisioned entertainment and hotel destination, he says.

Overall, Tedesco says he wants to work to reduce downtown's vacancy rates, which with slight variation have remained about the same for the past seven or eight years. He says the market for renting downtown apartments is strong, while the buying of condos has slowed.

"Overall vacancies—residential, office, retail—we need to fill that space," he adds. "We need to promote to the community that downtown is a good investment and tell them why. That's a big part of what I plan to do in 2012."

As one example of downtown attractiveness, he asserts that Apple Inc.'s choice to locate a store at River Park Square just over a year ago came with selective criteria.

"My predecessor played a big role in that," he says. "Apple stores don't locate just anywhere. They require a certain type of shopper, a top-tier shopper."

He says other DSP's priorities going into 2012 will involve ways to improve downtown public parking and enhance the "gateways" into Spokane's core through beautification projects along the Interstate 90 exits leading to downtown.

"I'm interested in increasing our responsibilities up there close to I-90. We're a nimble and effective organization, and we'll be looking for ways to finance gateway improvements. We have to look also at maintenance long term, and DSP can be a big part of that maintenance plan."

Early into his role at DSP, Tedesco worked to support a recently updated downtown public parking study and plan for metered parking rates. A city council ordinance passed in December, he says, is expected to simplify parking-meter costs downtown next year with a standardized amount for meters that range from five minutes to three hours.

"Some rates go up. Some go down. Many remain the same," he says. "All rates will be at $1.20 an hour for short-term meter stays. What that means is you know how much you'll pay to park when you come downtown. It helps take the confusion out of parking downtown."

Long-term meters with 10-hour maximums, mostly located on the west side of downtown, will have lower costs, he adds.

Beyond these priorities, Tedesco says DSP and the BID will stay true to core services that include creating promotional material and marketing downtown activities, as well as safety and cleanup. Six employees work as "security ambassadors" to help visitors and watch out for public safety, and six "clean team crew" workers do leaf and trash pickups, and clear snow off sidewalks.

DSP promotions include working with sponsors to offer First Friday, the monthly downtown art and retail event, as well as free holiday season carriage rides and caroling groups. Tedesco says he wants to see DSP continue promoting downtown amenities, "but in specific ways that help attract a mix of users, with a message for residential, for retail, and for office space."

Located in third-floor office space at 211 N. Wall, DSP's annual budget is about $256,000, largely funded by member dues, but also from sponsorships and contracts. Dues range from $1,575 to more than $10,500 a year depending on membership levels, with the number of members holding at about 70 to 75 members the past few years, the DSP says.

Meanwhile, the BID's separate operating budget of about $1.1 million is funded mainly through business assessments paid by property owners and businesses in six different zones.

DSP Vice President Marla Nunberg says most BID ratepayers pay about $90 a year, but that fees go as high as about $30,000. More than 850 business owners and 350 property parcels are within the district, which is bounded generally by Maple Avenue to the west, Browne Avenue to the east, the railroad viaduct to the south, and North River Drive to the north.

A Lewis and Clark High School graduate, Tedesco earned a bachelor's degree in geography at the University of Idaho and a master's degree in urban planning from the University of Kansas. Before Pueblo, Tedesco says he spent a year "as a one-man planning department" for South Fork, a Colorado town. He also worked for the Puget Sound Attractions Council before being named DSP president.

In returning to Spokane, Tedesco says he noticed a change in downtown as compared with the times he visited the city's core while growing up. He says he left Spokane around 1997, just before construction started on a $110 million renovation of the River Park Square mall, at 808 W. Main.

"Downtown looks and feels so much healthier than it did in the mid-1990s," he says. "It's become trendy, cool, hip, dynamic—all those good qualities that healthy downtowns should have."