Special valuation considered for School House Lofts

Cheney's Historical Preservation Commission held a special meeting Nov. 2 to talk about something else special - special valuation for the renovated and opened School House Lofts.

The facility formerly known as the Fisher Building, beginning life as Cheney High School in 1929 and ending public service as the district's administration building in 2012, was purchased in late 2016 by Eastmark Capital Group with the intent of turning it into student apartments. As part of that, Eastmark principal Sean Barnes proposed to maintain much of the historical qualities of the building with the intent of capitalizing on tax incentives from the state to help finance the work.

At the end of September, School House Lofts, LLC - the limited liability company formed to manage the property - submitted an "application and certification of special valuation on improvements to historic property" form to the state's Department of Revenue listing actual cost of rehabilitation to the Fisher Building of $8.28 million. The "qualified rehabilitation expenses" are listed at $6.86 million.

As a jurisdiction participating in the state's historic preservation program, Cheney's Historic Preservation Commission must evaluate the list of expenses submitted by School House Lofts to determine if they qualify for special valuation. If the commission feels they meet the state standards, rehabilitation costs will be subtracted from the assessed value of the property, with taxes based upon that lower value for up to 10 years.

The owner of the building must sign an agreement with the jurisdiction to fulfill certain state requirements, including maintaining the property in compliance with the Washington State Advisory Council's Standards for Rehabilitation.

"We agree to monitor the property to make sure it's being maintained that way," Historic Preservation Commission administrative assistant Sue Beeman said.

Items pertinent to a building's historic preservation are typically associated with the interior, Beeman said. Costs School House Lofts listed for purchase price, closing costs, some land costs and work to the exterior and parking lot wouldn't qualify and were excluded from the qualified rehabilitation expenses total submitted to Revenue.

Other submitted costs will need to be evaluated by the commission to determine if they qualify for the valuation. One of those generating conversation among members was an $11,750 cost for "window coverings."

Commissioner Bettye Hull felt if this referred to curtains that it would not be covered since they might not be unique to the building's historic nature and could therefore be repurposed. Commissioner Charles Mutschler noted that if they were specially designed to fit the building's windows - school-building style rather than residential - they might qualify since they wouldn't be capable of being hung anywhere else.

Another state standard for special valuation of historic properties eligibility is the degree to which the developer maintained the "distinguishing original qualities or character of a building, structure or site and its environment." In rehabbing the Fisher Building, Eastmark architect Lori Noto and general contractor Yost Gallagher Construction utilized as much of the existing structure as possible while modifying classrooms and other spaces for use as studio, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

Examples of this were retention of the original student lockers in two hallways, exterior windows and portions of the third-floor auditorium and gymnasium. In the case of the latter, flooring removed from the half that was used for apartments and other spaces was then reused elsewhere in the building.

"It really does retain the feeling that this really was a school," Mutschler said.

No decision was made on the special valuation by the commission at its Nov. 2. meeting. Beeman said she would do some additional research on the nature of some of the listed modifications and present them to the commission at its regular meeting in December.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].