A large, long-proposed apartment complex on Spokanes North Side, to be named Prairie Hills at Grayhawk, appears to be moving forward.


The city of Spokane has issued building permits for seven of 10 apartment buildings planned in the first phase of that project.


The complex is to be built along the east 1700 block of Lincoln Road, east of Nevada Street and a short distance from several other major apartment developments.


Plans filed with the city say that the seven permitted apartment buildings will be three-story structures with 24 living units apiece, or 168 units altogether. Cost estimates on the building permits for the seven structures total just over $10.5 million.


The permits say Spokane developer Harlan Douglass is the owner of the planned development. Douglass office referred questions about the project to his son, Lanzce G. Douglass, who owns Lanzce G. Douglass Inc., a Spokane general contracting company that the permits list as the contractor for the project. Lanzce Douglass couldnt be reached for comment.


Tom Craig, a plans reviewer for the city of Spokane, says applications havent been filed yet for building permits to construct four other buildings proposed as part of the first phase of the apartment project, including three apartment buildings similar to the seven for which the city has issued the permits plus a small apartment managers office structure. He says its unclear when the developer plans to move forward with that part of the project.


In late 1998, the city granted Harlan Douglass a zone change for Prairie Hills at Grayhawk, but the Spokane developer didnt apply for building permits to move forward with the project until earlier this year.


At that time, the city granted a zone change for a similar-sized second phase that was to be located directly east of the first phase, but Douglass hasnt submitted plans for construction of that phase yet, says Heather Trautman, a plans reviewer at the city.


If both phases were developed fully as envisioned when the zone change was granted, Prairie Hills at Grayhawk would have a total of 19 apartment buildings with 384 units altogether.


The planned apartment buildings are similar in design to others in complexes Douglass has developed, such as the nearby Rock Creek on Nevada apartment development and the Granite Court complex, in the Spokane Valley.