Real Estate & Development

The University District is, and will be, an economic driver for Spokane, a hub of research and academic achievement, an incubator for health sciences and other businesses, and simply, a hip place to Live, Learn, Work & Play!

Community revitalization bill
to bolster Spokane University District

Senate Bill 5045, already having been approved in the House, passed on a 47-0 vote in the Senate and now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s desk to be signed into law. It allows local governments to designate "revitalization areas" and retain some of the new taxes generated from added economic activity within them to pay for building and improving infrastructure including roads, pedestrian bridges, landscaping, utilities and sidewalks.

The Spokane University District, an effort to revitalize and promote economic development in an area east of downtown that includes the Riverpoint and Gonzaga University campuses, is named as a demonstration project in the bill and would be allowed to recapture as much as $250,000 annually. That money would be used to retire bonds that pay for redevelopment projects.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said the University District leverages new and existing investments in health care, education and research to form "the center of our economic development strategy."

The bill, in effect, allows growth to pay for growth. "What this does is allow funding which is paid for by future development," said Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane.

The bill otherwise establishes a process for local governments to establish their own revitalization areas and apply to the state’s Department of Revenue to begin collecting local tax revenue to support infrastructure improvements.