Washington State University at Spokane plans this year to seek proposals from developers for renovation of the big, former Jensen-Byrd Co. warehouse building, on the south side of the Riverpoint Higher Education Park, says Brian Pitcher, chancellor of WSU-Spokane.


WSU bought the six-story, 178,000-square-foot structure and three nearby properties last fall for $5.2 million from Cougar Property Holdings, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the WSU Foundation that buys properties for future university development. Cougar Property Holdings had bought the Jensen-Byrd building and the other properties in 2000 and 2001.


Later this year, WSU-Spokane plans to issue a request for proposals through which private developers will be asked to submit proposals for renovating the 96-year-old structure, Pitcher says.


He says he hopes the request will attract mixed-use development proposals that incorporate student housing and space for other campus services or programs. If a project moves forward there, WSU will maintain ownership of the building, but would sign a long-term lease with the developer, Pitcher says.


Steve Schmautz, president of SDS Realty Inc. and co-owner of the nearby Trent Building, says a project at the Jensen-Byrd building likely could be successful with the right mix of uses.


We havent looked at it hard enough at this point to determine what would be a viable project there, Schmautz says. There certainly is demand for student housing.


Riverpoint is a nonresidential campus, meaning that WSUs long-term plans for the campus dont call for any student dormitories to be built on site.


WSU officials have said consistently that the university will rely on private developers to meet student housing needs.


The old Jensen-Byrd building currently is vacant. Jensen Distribution Services, the longtime Spokane hardware distributor formerly known as Jensen-Byrd, leased the building back from Cougar Property Holdings for awhile after selling it, but Jensen moved its warehousing operation that had been located there to its West Plains facility in May of 2004.