Landing in limbo

POST FALLS - When developer Harry Green unveiled his vision for a Post Falls downtown 10 years ago, the elaborate multi-use Post Falls Landing plan for the former mill site on the Spokane River drew grand reactions and hopes.

Today, with the project still largely unfinished and in the foreclosure process, watchers are nervous that the property expected to help anchor a downtown will sit mostly vacant for several years to come.

"It would be our wish for whoever the new property owner becomes - if there is one - that they have enough resources to pull off development," Mayor Clay Larkin said. "The last thing we'd like to see is someone buy it as an investment and let it sit another 10 years."

Nine parcels in the 33-acre site - the bulk of the property - will be sold to the highest cash bidder at a trustee's sale on Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. at the Kootenai County Courthouse. About $8 million is owed.

Green declined to comment.

The Post Falls Urban Renewal Agency reimbursed the project about $2 million for infrastructure improvements such as streets, lights and curbing in hopes of sparking development.

Two condominium buildings and the marina have been built in the Landing. Retail shops, restaurants, a hotel, an amphitheater and more residential are also part of the plan.

"We have had great plans to see the project succeed, and we believe it will still succeed at the end of the day," said Eric Keck, city administrator. "It's a well-positioned piece of property. But when we see the property being foreclosed, it means our hopes for creating a downtown will be further delayed."

In the meantime, a city center core has started to form, including the new city hall and chamber of commerce buildings, the renovated Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center and museum, some businesses and Fourth Avenue improvements.

City officials said Green told them he won't let the Landing go easily.

"He said he's going to fight this to death and see if he can make it happen," Keck said.

Len Crosby, former chairman of the urban renewal board who sits on the Local Issues Committee of the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce, calls Green a "scrapper."

"If he can find alternative financing, he will," Crosby said.

Keck said he hasn't heard of any interested parties for the property.

Larkin said rumors that the city is bailing Green out are not true.

"We're not doing anything except being patient and waiting for the next outcome," he said.

Larkin said Green sought additional urban renewal funding earlier this year, but it wasn't granted.

"When we see something coming out of the ground, then we'll think about it," he said. "We've got to see something happen."

Linda Wilhelm, a city council member and realtor who is helping sell Green's condominiums, said only one unit, a three-bedroom penthouse listed for $459,000, is left to sell in the two buildings. It is part of the trustee's sale, she said.

"I feel bad for him, but he's still trying to get investors to save that sale," Wilhelm said. "The property is still his until it becomes foreclosed upon. I don't foresee a lot of bidders at the sale if it does get down to that."

Another pending issue with the project is a quarter-acre land swap proposal between Green and the city. It has been in the works since 2007, but is on hold due to the foreclosure process.

The city owns property where tanks to the marina's gas station sit. Green, meanwhile, has a similar-sized parcel that has a view of the dam that the city is interested in for a park area.

Larkin said he was frustrated that a permit for the tanks on city property was issued. He said he remains uncomfortable with the situation.

"No one from the city signed off on putting tanks in there," he said. "The new owner may not want to do anything with (the swap), but I told staff that if we can't get this cleared up, I'd like to see the tanks out of there mid-winter or by spring. We shouldn't be subsidizing private enterprise."

Larkin said he signed the documents earlier for the swap, but Green didn't.

"I told people then that he can't sign because he has too many liens running against him on the property," he said. "People said it's a done deal. It's a done deal all right. We're still fighting it."

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