Catholic Charities Spokane says it will begin managing its own residential properties at the beginning of next year, ending a 30-year relationship with Goodale & Barbieri Co., the Spokane company that currently manages those properties.


Rob McCann, executive director of Catholic Charities here, says the 94-year-old nonprofit organization is establishing an arm called Catholic Housing Communities to manage its housing portfolio, which consists of 13 properties in Eastern Washington with just over 700 living units.


The nonprofit expects to save about $350,000 a year through self-management, McCann says.


Over time, you can bank that and build more projects, he says.


To handle its own property management, Catholic Charities will add 35 to 40 workers, mostly offering positions to people who currently manage its properties as employees of G&B. With the additional employees, the nonprofit will have a paid staff of about 260 people.


McCann says Catholic Charities began researching the idea of managing its own properties about three years ago. He says theres a trend nationally where Catholic charity programs are starting to manage their own properties.


Tom Barbieri, president of Goodale & Barbieri, says hes aware of the national trend and that the company has been working with Catholic Charities on that transition.


He says the nonprofits property management represents a relatively small portion of the companys portfolio.


They are trying to do more with less, and Im certain their hearts are in the right place, Barbieri says.


The majority of the nonprofits housing is in the Spokane area. Those properties include the 15-story, 150-unit Cathedral Plaza and the 84-unit Delaney Apartments, both downtown, and the OMalley Apartments, at 707 E. Mission, near Gonzaga University, among others.


About 65 percent of its living units are for seniors, and the balance are for low-income families, disabled adults, or farm workers.


In addition to permanent housing, Catholic Charities provides a variety of temporary housing options and other social services.


Goodale & Barbieri is a real estate management company that spun off from Red Lion Hotels Corp., of Spokane, in April. Barbieri and David Peterson now own Goodale & Barbieri.


Contact Linn Parish at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at [email protected].