EWU OKs negotiations with potential Spokane Center buyer

Economy, building elements have made HEC a tough sell

By JOHN McCALLUM

Editor

Eastern Washington University's Board of Trustees has voted to initiate a process that could culminate in the sale of the university's Higher Education Center on First Avenue in downtown Spokane.

In a special meeting Dec. 12 board members gave their authority to university business and finance vice president Mary Voves to engage in negotiating a purchase offer for the building. While information about the prospective buyer and possible price range were not given, EWU President Dr. Rodolfo Arévalo confirmed the move represented the belief the university had a legitimate offer for the building.

Purchased from Farm Credit Bank by former EWU president Dr. H. George Fredrickson and first opened in April 1983 the four-story building contained 33 classrooms and accommodated up to 800 students, housing several key programs such as journalism, alcohol and drug studies, creative writing and the EWU Press. In the mid-1990s Eastern and Washington State University entered into an agreement with the city of Spokane and the state Legislature to create a University District along the Spokane River east of Division, and as the Riverpoint campus became reality and expanded, more EWU programs found their way there than to the Higher Education Center. In 2006 the Legislature gave Eastern permission to sell the building and use the proceeds to pay for pre-design and design work on a new facility at Riverpoint.

Eastern thought they had achieved this in July 2007 when they entered into an agreement to sell the Higher Education Center for $3.4 million to Real Estate Advisory Services, Inc. of Portland, Ore. The deal eventually fell through for financing reasons later in the year.

Part of the problem in attracting potential buyers for the building besides economic issues has been its construction, which has led to limited interest.

“That's one of the difficulties,” Arévalo said. “The difficulty in selling it is it was built as a bank.”

Eastern officials would provide no other details on the process other than to say they hoped to negotiate a deal within 60-120 days.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].