Fortune Design & Development LLC is seeking environmental approval for a proposed five-story, 259-unit apartment project at a vacant 5.5-acre site in Spokane Valley.

Over $1 billion worth of residential and commercial developments are planned in the Mead area, in north Spokane County, as developers expand their focus from residential subdivision projects to a mix of both residential and commercial development.

A 24-unit mixed-use building under construction at 295 E. Appleway, in Coeur d’Alene, will be the final project to round out the Appleway Quarter development.

Most credit unions in the Spokane area are reporting growing membership totals year-over-year, and some financial leaders here say they expect to see the trend continue into 2024.

Lenders in Spokane say several economic factors have made it increasingly more expensive for borrowers when trying to obtain a loan, including high inflation, high interest rates, and an erosion of COVID-era stimulus funds that allowed many to save, pay off loans, and invest.

Historic building owners may find there are additional challenges to meet Washington state’s upcoming energy-performance standards that nonhistorical building owners won’t have to contend with.

Three Spokane-based organizations that operate as economic drivers in the community have set aside their once competitive policies to adopt a new combined strategic plan to be publicly announced in the spring.