A Chewelah, Wash., businessman and a partner have bought the former Consolidated Freightways terminal in East Spokane and plan to upgrade the facility and lease it to one or more trucking operations.


The Chewelah businessman, Donald Morse, who owns Discount Aircraft Salvage, in Deer Park, and Priest Lake resident Loel Fenwick bought the property for $1.31 million at a May 20 public auction. Vancouver, Wash.-based Consolidated Freightways, which in September 2002 filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, is in the process of selling 203 properties nationwide via public auction.


The Spokane terminal is located on 7.2 acres at 606 N. Fiske and includes a 46-bay, 16,800-square-foot dock warehouse building, an attached 3,600-square-foot office building, and a six-bay, 7,800-square-foot shop building. Consolidated closed its Spokane operation in fall 2002, a few weeks after filing for bankruptcy reorganization.


Morse says he plans in coming weeks to make minor improvements to the property, including repairing roofs and asphalt, replacing bay doors, and undertaking some light interior remodeling.


He says four trucking operations have shown interest in leasing the facility, and he hopes to nail down a user for the terminal later this month. He hopes to find one user to take the entire facility, but will consider dividing the space among two or more users.


I knew there was some interest, Morse says. It has potential.


Jason Weller, an agent with Transportation Property Co., a San Diego-based real estate company thats handling the Consolidated Freightways property auctions, says Morse was one of two potential buyers to bid on the Spokane terminal.


The property here sold for about 31 percent above the asking price, but less than the propertys assessed value of $1.67 million, Weller says.


Still, the Spokane property drew more interest than the average Consolidated Freightways property, Weller says. About 180 of the 203 properties have been auctioned so far, and the average property sold so far has commanded a winning bid that was 22 percent higher than the asking price, he says.


Morse, who lives in Chewelah, says the terminal purchase is his first investment in commercial real estate.


He has owned and operated Discount Aircraft Salvage, located at the Deer Park Airport, for 28 years and also owns some small apartment properties in the Spokane area.