Just east of downtown Spokane, nondescript Sprague Avenue and the nearby railroad tracks do little to inspire thoughts of romantic Florence, Italy.


In the future, though, a grand bridge structure reminiscent of the Ponte Vecchio in Florencecomplete with cafes and retail shops atop itcould span the tracks and provide a walking and bicycling route between Sprague and the north side of the University District, all of which is expected to burgeon.


Such a structure is just one of the ideas explored in the recently completed University District master plan, which the city of Spokane, Spokane-area businesspeople, university representatives, and others have developed.


Now, says city economic development adviser Tom Reese, Were able to hit the streets and move on implementation of this plan, and were meeting with developers almost every day.


One day late last month, Reese says, the city and other U District proponents presented the vision for the district to developers from New York City and Savannah, Ga., who are considering developing housing and mixed-use projects here. He declines for now to disclose further details about those meetings, but contends that the U District is drawing such interest from developers regularly.


Kim Pearman-Gillman, a senior vice president at Avista Development, who also is involved in the University District planning, says, We have all the groundwork set, and we can show people where we are going. This gives reassurance to developers.


The U District includes a large area just east of downtown thats bisected by the Spokane River and is anchored by Gonzaga University on the north side of the river and includes the Riverpoint Higher Education Park on the south bank. Its general borders are Sharp Avenue to the north, Hamilton Street to the east, Interstate 90 to the south, and Division Street to the west.


Activity centers


The master plan identifies four priority areas, or activity centers, within the district that Reese says are considered ripe for development and improvements: the East Sprague area, the Main Avenue-Division Street intersection, the Hamilton Street corridor, and along the river.


The envisioned Sprague Avenue pedestrian bridge, which would be located roughly four blocks east of Division where Grant Street dead-ends at the railroad tracks, is considered a key catalyst for the plan. Such a bridge, the plan says, would create a north-south link from the Riverpoint campus to Sprague, as well as the eastern end of Spokanes medical district located just south of that area.


Because of the railroad-track barrier, the only route to Riverpoint and Gonzaga from Sprague currently is Division. The report says the presence of a walking bridge would make it more viable for developers to build or renovate older structures in the East Sprague area into student housing.


Riverpoint is a nonresidential campus, meaning that long-term plans for the campus dont call for any student dormitories to be built on site. Consequently, a need for nearby housing exists, the plan says.


On the commercial side, the plan notes that medical services, such as physical-therapy practices and specialty physicians offices, already have begun to expand into the Sprague Avenue neighborhood, and those types of users likely will redevelop older buildings there.


Currently, few retailers are located in the East Sprague area, but the Pacific Avenue-Sherman Street intersection, where Loulous Sports Shop and other small shops already are located, is noted as having some unique older buildings where a small neighborhood center could be developed further. Sidewalk and streetscape improvements are called for as well in the East Sprague area.


The plan notes, however, that the area in its current form presents challenges.


Public safety is a major concern, the report says. After dark, the area is sparsely populated and is frequented by transitioning populations.


It also points out that there is a lack of concentrated development to act as an anchor to the area and that its pockmarked with vacant land and buildings in need of renovation.


The Main-Division area is at downtowns east end. As the Riverpoint campus is developed southward, that intersection is expected to be a key connection between downtown and the campus.


To enhance that connection, the plan calls for improvements to pedestrian crossings at that intersection and for improving traffic flow by converting a few-block section of Main to a two-way street from its current use as an eastbound one-way arterial.


Several opportunities also are available to renovate the upper floors of older structures in that area into housing, and U District planners advocate incorporation of housing into future projects.


The plan says that neighborhood currently has an eclectic mix of businesses, some housing, and a number of nonprofit organizations, and should experience additional reinvestment in the future, partly because of the Spokane Convention Center expansion one block to the north.


The Hamilton Street corridor includes a number of sites for potential mixed-use development that would accommodate retail users and some form of housing. The Hamilton-Trent Avenue intersection, at the east edge of the district between the Gonzaga and Riverpoint campuses, is a particular area of interest for redevelopment for district advocates.


Farther north on Hamilton, near its intersection with Sharp Avenue, a number of offbeat businesses serve the student population, the plan says. The flavor of that neighborhood should be preserved and encouraged to continue, it says.


A number of light-industrial businesses are located along Hamilton as well, so the plan cautions that changes will need to take place without impeding the operation of those companies.


Also, the plan says that because of past industrial uses in that neighborhood, the river and its banks are polluted in some areas, and there is a concentration of transients.


The river, in general though, is viewed as a tremendous asset to the U District, and the plan calls for improving access to the river and finding additional ways to make it a focal point.


Project under way


While some of these envisioned projects likely are years from coming to fruition, a lot of activity already is in the works in the district.


At Riverpoint, the $33.85 million WSU-Spokane Academic Center is well under way and is scheduled to be completed in August 2006. Funding for a $34.6 million building to house the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing currently is being considered by the Washington Legislature. If that building is funded, it would be constructed just south of the Academic Center.


A couple of blocks to the south near Riverside Avenue and Pine Street, crews broke ground late last month on a $6 million facility to be called the SIRTI Technology Center, which is to be leased to biotechnology-related concerns.


Also last month, a group of Spokane investors bought the historic Schade Brewery building, at 528 E. Trent, and announced plans to update and lease out to business tenants the five-story, 90,000-square-foot structure.