Thrive International has submitted an application to the city of Spokane to build 48 affordable housing units with a total construction value of between $8 million to $9 million, says Lidia Pauline, Thrive International's director of housing development. 

The mixed-use development is centered on a 1.6-acre parcel of land at 6980 N. Nevada. As envisioned, the project will include a playground donated by Valley Real Life Ministries, community gardens with a geodesic dome for long-term gardening during winter and summer months, a 24/7 library kiosk, and a public event and learning space that will be operated by the Spokane Public Library. 

Pauline says the organization will seek contractor bids by year-end. 

“Maybe we’ll be breaking ground here in the next three weeks or early spring,” Pauline says. 

Bernardo Wills, of Spokane, designed the project, and Millenium Northwest LLC is the developer, says Mark Finney, executive director of Thrive International. Spokane-based Courage Housing LLC is supporting the development with financing and investment. 

Finney says the development is being propelled through community partnerships. 

The Library Board of Trustees voted to sell its vacant land to Thrive for $10 in exchange for a no-fee 50-year lease of the community space, garden space, and space for the 24/7 library kiosk, he says. The library is using funds from a 2018 voter-approved $77 million bond measure to build the geodesic dome and parking spaces. 

"They didn’t have a vision for how to use the whole (parcel),” Finney says. “When we offered to take the first phase of the project and add housing, they were really excited about that. Their construction process is already underway.” 

Courage Housing is working with Thrive primarily to provide investment structures and to recruit investors, Finney says. Half of the apartments will be targeted to tenants making up to 80% of the area median income, while the other half will be market-rate apartments, providing a return to investors , he says. 

Thrive plans to buy back the apartments from the investors within five to 10 years to make the development a Thrive project in perpetuity, he says. 

“We want to encourage multicultural communities to thrive, and we believe that housing is the cornerstone of a community,” Finney says. “The vision for this place is to create a place where people live and have a home, but also it’s a small neighborhood kind of community gathering space.” 

Thrive International was founded in 2021 with the mission to provide temporary housing, education, and empowerment programs. It is located at the former Qualify Inn hotel on 110 E. Fourth. The 153-room structure has provided transitional housing to nearly 1,000 refugees since opening in June 2022. 

“Every month, we’re seeing lots more folks head out into independence, and then we take more people who are brand new arrivals to the community,” Finney says.