Spokane developer and general contractor Mick McDowell has firmed up plans for a 10-story, roughly $8 million high-end condominium project on Riverside Avenue, just west of downtown Spokane, that would overlook Peaceful Valley and the Spokane River. He expects to start the project this fall.


The development, which is a departure from the low-income projects in which McDowell mostly has been involved up to this point, is designed to house 21 units, though that number could change, depending on how much space buyers want, McDowell says. The units would be priced beginning in the $350,000 range, he says.


The condominiums would be built on a steep site on the north side of Riverside, where Cedar Street intersects with Riverside. The about 20,000-square-foot site, which McDowell has owned for around 15 years, once housed an apartment building, called the Riverside, which burned down. The remains of the building were razed about six years ago, he says.


I think many of the people who are my age and have had the trophy homes are realizing it isnt the most efficient and effective way to live, says McDowell, who recently turned 50. Theres a growing trend among baby boomers to move from the suburbs and into the cities. And I know that my friends and I, we kind of enjoy being downtown, he says.


Before the project can get under way, McDowell needs to presell nine of the planned 21 units to secure financing and will need to file for a building permit, which he expects to do within the next few months. A shoreline permit wont be needed, he says, because of the propertys distance from the river.


Efforts to market the condo units are under way. McDowell says that those who prebuy units will be given a membership to the Spokane Club, which is located about three blocks east of the condo site. The development, which is to be called the Riverview Condominiums, wont have an exercise area or pool, he says.


The structure would include eight stories of living units to be built on top of two stories of parking, all of which would be built on concrete supports sunk into the steep, sloping site.


The building would have a total of about 70,000 square feet of floor space and is expected to take about 12 months to construct, McDowell says. The top eight stories would be visible from Riverside, but the parking area would be visible only from the north.


The front of the building, which would face south toward Carnegie Square, would have a brick and glass exterior. The backside of the structure would be built mostly of glass. McDowell says that the building would have about $400,000 worth of glass in it and about $2.2 million worth of steel and concrete.


Each unit would have between 2,000 and 4,000 square feet of interior floor space and a minimum of 500 square feet of outdoor deck, McDowell says. The buildings penthouse is expected to contain 3,800 square feet of interior space and about 1,900 square feet of deck.


Each unit has been designed with copious quantities of storage, each deck would have faucets for both hot and cold water, and the owners of each unit would be assigned three parking stalls, McDowell says.


The condominium complex would have a three-story-high foyer in which a grand chandelier would hang. Just off of the foyer, McDowell envisions a large common area that probably would be equipped with all of the quality, a high-tech gadgetry that empty nesters have come to expect, such as a big-screen television, a home-theater system, and high-speed Internet access, he says.


Steven A. Meek Architects, of Spokane, designed the condominiums, and McDowells company, TFB Inc., would build the project.


During the last 23 years, TFB has restored several old buildings, mostly in downtown Spokane, for use as offices or housing for low-income residents.


McDowells condo project follows on the heels of another high-end condo project that was developed by Wells & Co., of Spokane, last year on the west 1200 block of Riverside. That project, called Riverside Court, includes seven townhousesfive of which have been sold. The units were priced at between $455,000 and $825,000.