Spokane real estate developer Rob Brewster Jr. says he has decided against renewing an option to buy a site at Riverside Avenue and Howard Street downtown for a possible $35 million-to-$40 million skyscraper.


Brewster says the project still is alive, and several tenants have agreed to take space in the high-rise building if its developed. However, hes looking at other potential sites for the proposed office tower, which he had said earlier would have at least 25 stories.


I still like the (original) site, but there are enough other sites that paying an option is not necessary, Brewster says.


He declines to disclose other potential locations, but says they are all downtown.


Brewster says prospective tenants of the downtown office tower have agreed to lease about 35 percent of the space in the planned building, which would include a total of 250,000 square feet of office and retail space if built as proposed.


Brewster declines to name any of the companies that have committed to take space in the proposed tower, and says he needs commitments for a total of 60 percent of the space before he can move forward with the project.


Paine, Hamblen, Coffin, Brooke & Miller LLP, a Spokane law firm that is growing aggressively and has said it needs up to 60,000 square feet of Class A office space, hasnt committed to take any new space yet, says Shaun Cross, Paine Hamblens managing partner. The law firm, Spokanes largest, is negotiating for space in the tower proposed by Brewster, but also is talking with another developer who has proposed a skyscraper, Cross says.


Im still guardedly optimistic that one of the towers will be built, and we will be part of that, Cross says.


He declines to name the developer of the other tower proposal.


Even if Paine Hamblen committed to Brewsters project, Brewster says he still would need to find more tenants before moving forward. Brewster says another potential tenant for his project is Avista Corp., of Spokane.


Its important that they be downtown, and Id like to see them in this project, Brewster says of the Spokane-based utility company. Theyd push it over the edge. Thats for sure.


Under the lapsed option, Brewster had first rights to buy most of the buildings on the block bordered by Riverside, Howard, Sprague Avenue, and Stevens Street. The option involved all of the properties owned by retired Spokane developer K. Wendell Reugh on that block, including the Rookery Building, the Mohawk Building, and the Merton Block building, all of which are mostly vacant. The six-story Fernwell Building, at 505 W. Riverside, and a small structure that houses Gabbys Irish Home & Grill, at 514 W. Sprague, were the only buildings on the block that werent part of the option.


Brewster obtained the option in April.


As planned, the office tower would have a bank, an upscale restaurant, and other users on the ground floor, additional mixed uses on the second floor, and office space on ascending floors. It also would include underground parking with up to 300 spots.


In a separate Brewster project, renovation work wrapped up earlier this month at the Holley Mason Building, a historic, six-story building downtown at 157 S. Howard.


Spokane School District 81 is using most of the building currently to house 1,550 Lewis and Clark High School students while that school undergoes a major renovation and expansion. Also, Fitzbillies Bagel Inc. has agreed to lease retail space at Holley Mason, and Brewster is looking for more retail tenants for the building.