Catholic Charities of Spokane hopes to start construction this summer on another 51-unit residential building in the next phase of its Father Bach series of low-income apartments for the chronically homeless.

John Fisher, housing development manager for the Catholic Charities, says the nonprofit has submitted predevelopment plans to the city of Spokane for a four-story, $5 million building tentatively named Father Bach III, which would be constructed at the northwest corner of State Street and Second Avenue downtown.

Preliminary site plans show the Father Bach project would be the first phase of two such buildings at the former farmers’ market site at 24 W. Second.

“Our hope is to look at doing other projects,” Fisher says. “Our goal is to continue to build until we’re able to solve the homeless issue in Spokane.”

Catholic Charities is seeking low-income housing tax credits as a funding source for the project.

“We haven’t gone through the full process yet,” Fisher says.

The agency’s application for low-income housing tax credit for the project is under review by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, which has authority to allocate federal income tax credits through a competitive process to encourage developers to build or rehabilitate affordable multifamily housing.

The Father Bach III building would be modeled after the Father Bach Haven project, which opened in early 2013 at 108 S. State, and the similarly configured Buder Haven project under construction at 201 E. Second.

The building would have 42,500 square feet of living space with studio and one-bedroom apartment units.

Rents would be subsidized through the Spokane Housing Authority and other sources, Fisher says.

The majority of the Father Bach III apartment units would be restricted to residents earning less than 30 percent of the area median income, Fisher says. “We’ll also have some restricted to people earning 50 percent or below the area median income,” he says.

The annual area median income in Spokane County is $45,200 for one person, or $51,600 for a two-person household.

Father Bach Haven was the first Spokane apartment complex devoted wholly to providing permanent housing for the chronically homeless, Fisher says, adding, “It’s 100 percent occupied with a fairly large waiting list.”

Catholic Charities is developing the Buder Haven project simultaneously with the neighboring Volunteers of America Eastern Washington project, named The Marilee, at 217 E. Second. 

“Both are targeting the same priority population,” Fisher says of Buder Haven and The Marilee. “They’re similar in design and function, and there will be a lot of linkage in property management and social services.”

Structures at the Father Bach III site would be demolished to make room for the project, Fisher says.

Catholic Charites hopes to begin construction on the project in July, about the time that Buder Haven and The Marilee are scheduled to begin leasing to tenants, he says.

“We’ll be using the same design team as we did for Buder Haven,” Fisher says, adding the nonprofit hasn’t selected a contractor for the Father Bach III project.

Nystrom+Olson Architecture, of Spokane, designed both the Buder Haven and The Marilee projects, valued at $10 million combined, and Spokane-based Inland Washington LLC is the contractor on them.

Father Bach Haven is named for Monsignor Frank Bach, former director of Catholic Charities and lifelong advocate for the poor and vulnerable.

Buder Haven tentatively was named Father Bach II during the planning stage.

“Father Bach III most likely will be renamed at a later date,” Fisher says.