A Spokane company plans to buy a 22.5-acre parcel used as an exotic animal farm in northeast Spokane and has proposed developing a 276-unit apartment complex there.


The company, Consortium Investments LLC, is seeking preliminary-plat approval for a planned-unit development on the site. A hearing on the matter in front of the city of Spokane Hearing Examiner is scheduled for Nov. 10.


The farm site is located at the northeast corner of Longfellow Avenue and Havana Street, and informally is known in the Hillyard neighborhood as the camel farm. In addition to farm animals, the owners raise camels, ostriches, emus, and other exotic species there.


Brian Butler, a spokesman for Consortium Investments, says the company hopes to receive necessary approvals for the project from the city and to complete the land transaction next month. The farm will remain there for a short time, but will move to a more rural setting if the transaction is completed as planned, Butler says.


An application that Consortium Investments filed with the city calls for a 276-unit apartment complex with a mix of two- and three-story buildings that would have between four and 12 living units each. The plans also call for two clubhouses and two swimming pools in the development.


Butler says Consortium hasnt decided whether it will develop the property itself or sell the property after the project clears regulatory hurdles. Either way, he says, the company hopes to have the project to a point where construction could start early next spring.


As envisioned, the site would be developed in two phases, Butler says. In the first phase, townhouse-style buildings, many with four units each, would be built on the eastern part of the property. The farm is located at the base of a hill, and the eastern portion is at higher elevation than the rest of the property and could have views of parts of Spokane, he says.


If construction starts next spring as hoped, the first living units there could come on line next summer, Butler says.


The second phase would include a mix of two- and three-story apartment buildings, each with between eight and 12 living units. Its unclear when work would start on that phase, he says.


Butler declines to disclose estimated construction costs for such a project. He says, however, that development costs alone are between $1 million and $3 million. A comparably-sized apartment project thats under way in Spokane Valley has a total cost of about $20 million.


The camel farm is just west of a 60-acre hillside site on which a group of landowners, led by Spokane businessman Pete Rayner, first proposed a mixed-use residential development 2 1/2 years ago. As initially proposed, that land would be developed to include a 200-unit retirement complex, 200 multifamily living units, and 100 single-family homes.


A project there, which when announced was contingent on adequate sewer capacity and a road realignment, hasnt moved forward yet. Rayner declined to comment for now.