Thrive International will break ground on a 48-unit affordable housing project in May, says the organization’s executive director, Mark Finney. 

The mixed-use development has an estimated construction value between $8 million and $9 million and is planned to rise on a 1.6-acre parcel of land at 6980 N. Nevada. 

“Everything is coming together nicely,” Finney says. 

Spokane-based Millennium Northwest LLC is the project developer, and Walker Construction Inc., also of Spokane, is the contractor, Finney says. 

Bernardo Wills, of Spokane, designed the project, and Spokane-based investment firm Courage Housing LLC is supporting the development with financing and investment.

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 the winter and summer months, a 24/7 library kiosk, and a public event and learning space that will be operated by Spokane Public Library.

Last March, the Spokane Library Board of Trustees voted to sell the vacant Nevada Street parcel to Thrive International 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. The library is using funds from a 2018 voter-approved $77 million bond measure to build the geodesic dome and parking spaces.

Courage Housing is working in collaboration with Thrive International to provide investment structures and to recruit investors.

Courage Housing partners with refugee-focused nonprofits that occupy office space on the ground floor of developments to help tenants access services, including health care, employment opportunities, vocational services, English classes, and social services.

Half of the apartments in the Thrive International development 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, Finney says. 

He adds that Thrive International plans to buy back the apartments from the investors within 10 years to make the development a Thrive International project in perpetuity.

Thrive International was founded in 2021 in Spokane and provides temporary refugee housing, education, and empowerment programs. It is located in the former Quality Inn hotel at 110 E. Fourth and has provided transitional housing to nearly 1,000 refugees since opening in June 2022.

—Karina Elias