Three apartment projects with a total of 502 living units and a combined construction value totaling at least $48.2 million are in various planning stages on the Moran Prairie atop Spokane's South Hill.

The largest project, in terms of total cost, is a proposed 232-unit, $19.9 million complex that's to be named Palouse Family Apartments and is to be located at 3210 E. 44th, preliminary plans on file with the city show.

The next largest is a proposed 150-unit senior apartment project that's to be called Traditions South Hill Senior Apartments and is to be developed on an adjacent site, at 3270 E. 44th, related environmental-review documents show. Joe Wizner, the city's building official, says the permit value for a project the size of Traditions likely would be at least $13.3 million.

Separately, Spokane Housing Ventures, a nonprofit community-housing development organization, says it expects to break ground this summer on a $15 million, 120-unit project, tentatively called 55th Avenue Apartments, that's to be located at 3223 E. 55th. Whitewater Creek Inc., of Hayden, Idaho, will be the contractor on that project.

Inland Washington LLC, of Spokane Valley, is listed as the contractor on the Palouse and Traditions projects. Representatives of that company couldn't be reached for comment.

The Palouse and Traditions project sites are north of Clare House Apartments, at 4827 S. Palouse Highway, and just east of the ShopKo Stores Inc. outlet, at 4515 S. Regal.

Building permits for the Palouse apartment project likely will be approved soon to allow construction of that project to begin this spring, Wizner says. Inland Washington hasn't submitted preliminary plans for the Traditions project yet, he says.

The Palouse project would include 10 three-story apartment buildings, each with 21,600 square feet to 27,000 square feet of living space, plans show. Eight buildings would have 24 living units each, and two would have 20 units each.

The Palouse apartments are to be restricted to tenants with family income of less than 60 percent of the area median income, with 48 units reserved for families with special needs, and 48 units reserved for families of four or more people, plans say.

Access to the apartments would be via two new driveways on 44th Avenue, and an existing Clare House driveway on the Palouse Highway, plans say.

As part of the project, Wizner says, Inland Washington plans to improve 44th Avenue between Ray and Achilles streets. Much of that three-block section of 44th Avenue is unpaved. Street improvements would include an asphalt road surface, with storm drainage and concrete curbs, gutters, and sidewalks, Wizner says.

"They are doing more than is required," he says, of Inland Washington's plans.

The Architects Office PLLC, of Boise, is designing the Palouse and Traditions projects, and Whipple Consulting Engineers Inc., of Spokane Valley, is the civil engineer for both projects.

Traditions is to be located at the southeast corner of 44th Avenue and Apollo Street, Wizner says. It would have a three-story, U-shaped building, with 131,700 square feet of floor space, 39 garage stalls, and a pool house, he says.

Spokane Housing Ventures, along with Whitewater Creek as its construction partner, previously had planned to develop low-income multifamily and senior housing projects near Clare House Apartments. Those development plans, however, fell through as Inland Washington stepped in to acquire the 44th Avenue properties, says Dave Roberts, senior developer at Spokane Housing Ventures.

Spokane Housing Ventures and Whitewater Creek then turned its focus to 7.5 acres of mostly vacant land fronting 55th Avenue a few blocks south of the Clare House complex, Roberts says.

There's plenty of demand for all three apartment projects on the South Hill, he asserts, because the work-force housing and senior housing markets are underserved there.

The 55th Avenue project will include six three-story apartment buildings, with living units ranging in size from 700 square feet to 1,200 square feet of floor space.

The project also will include a 3,200-square-foot, single-story community building, he says.

The Washington state Housing Finance Commission has awarded the project a $2.5 million grant, and the remainder of the project will be funded largely through tax-exempt bonds authorized by the commission, Roberts says.

The development will be designated as work-force housing under the state's Washington Works program and, like the Palouse project, most of the 55th Avenue units will be targeted at individuals and families earning less than 60 percent of the area median income, he says.

Spokane Housing Ventures owns and operates more than 650 low-income rental units in Spokane and Stevens counties, including the 36-unit Bel Franklin Apartments, at 224 N. Division, and the 33-unit Kensington Court Apartments, at 156 S. Pine.

Whitewater Creek's other current developments include the 50-unit Mill River Senior Apartments complex, north of Seltice Way, at the west edge of Coeur d'Alene, and the Riverstone West Family Apartments, in the Riverstone development, in Coeur d'Alene.

Inland Washington is the general contractor on a 256-unit apartment complex under construction at 3711 S. State Route 27, south of Spokane Valley.