Monte Miller: He's always gone up in Coeur d'Alene

COEUR d’ALENE — Monte Miller gambled $54 million during one of the country’s most volatile economic times.

And won.

While city planners were calling for high-density housing to revitalize downtown Coeur d’Alene, Miller and business partner Dick Stauffer were ahead of the game. They designed and built the McEuen Terrace and Parkside towers.

But not without a struggle. Just when things seemed to be going right, the financial floor fell out. Twice.

They prevailed and changed the face of the downtown. Miller Stauffer Architects has made an indelible mark, along with Miller’s mentor, architect R.G. Nelson years earlier with The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

“The thing about allowing high-rises in the downtown is it defines where the downtown is,” Miller said. “There’s no question anymore where the downtown in Coeur d’Alene is.”

Miller, 66, knew early on his future would be in architecture. He was born in Woodland, Calif., near Sacramento and grew up as a diehard San Francisco Giants and 49ers fan. He still is.

The father of his best friend in Woodland was an architect working from home.

“I loved watching him draw. I was just fascinated by the profession,” he said. “I was pretty set on it.”

The Miller family moved to Coeur d’Alene when he was 13, following the lead of his grandparents, who retired here.

“I wasn’t very happy, leaving all my friends and sunny California,” he said. “But it didn’t take me long to lose the desire to ever go back. I love Coeur d’Alene.”

He graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School in 1969 as an honor student, athlete, student council member and a bit of a miscreant during his school years.

Snowball throwing led to a painful introduction to the paddle. He hooky-bobbed all over Coeur d’Alene’s snow streets. And when CHS officials tried to isolate students at lunch in the bleachers of the gym according to class, Miller and a friend set up a table at mid-court with a linen cloth and candle and ate their sandwiches there in defiance.

A track scholarship in hurdles won him admission to North Idaho College. From there, he went to the University of Idaho. Architecture was demanding, he said.

“It still has a reputation for being the only building where the lights are on all night — kids doing projects. It hasn’t changed,” he said.

During the summers, he worked as a laborer at Diamond National’s lumber mill on the Spokane River to pay his college tuition. Ironically, he is now designing upscale homes in Mill River at the same location where he pulled green chain.

Miller graduated from the U of I in 1974 and serves on the advisory council for the College of Art and Architecture.

“I love going down there. It’s a fabulous school. It recharges my batteries,” he said.

After graduation, Miller knew exactly where to go: back home.

“I admired R.G. Nelson. I rolled into the parking lot with all my college projects and models,” Miller said. “I walked over to him and stuck out my hand and said I wanted to go to work for him as an apprentice. He said, ‘Let’s go to work.’ He hired me on the spot.”

Miller worked part-time for Nelson out of a basement office in the Johnston Building, then went full-time until the economy slowed. In the meantime, he watched Nelson work his magic.

“I saw him forming the Hagadone (corporate) building. Today, it’s one of my favorite pieces of architecture,” Miller said. “He was right up there in the profession.”

Miller then moved on and became a partner with architect Doug Cranston in Coeur d’Alene. Cranston Miller & Associates lasted for three years until the recession of the 1980s took its toll.

“People weren’t building. It was horrible. So we finally threw it in,” he said. “I left. There just wasn’t any work.”

Miller created his own company and hired Stauffer, who was working for the city at the time, in the late ’80s.

“It’s been Miller Stauffer ever since,” Miller said.

The team moved to a location at Seventh Avenue and Front Street in 1993, where Miller hired an architect and interior designer who would become his future wife. Anneliese and Miller have two college-age children, both at the U of I.

“She’s been a big part of my life,” he said.

Miller and Stauffer bought four lots on Front near their new office “with the hopes of someday doing a development. We always wanted to build something,” he said.

Then opportunity struck. Miller noticed a little rental house across Seventh from their office went up for sale. They bought the house along with some adjacent property, recruited real estate agent Shawn McMahon as a partner, and began designing McEuen Terrace.

The original plan was for eight stories with about 5,000 square feet of office space and the rest as residential condominiums. Then attorney Mike Hague walked into the office and said the Paine, Hamblen, Coffin, Brooke & Miller law firm was in need of space. A lot of space — 15,000 square feet of space.

It was back to the drawing board. To accommodate Paine, Hamblen, Miller had to add more condos, which meant more floors. The project grew from eight to 15 stories.

Miller and Stauffer broke ground in 2000 with most of the condos pre-sold. They borrowed about $12 million to make it happen.

“The market was hot. Real estate was going gangbusters,” he said. “I’ll never forget the day when we signed our name to an eight-figure loan.”

Then two commercial jets slammed into the Twin Towers in New York and the stock market plummeted.

“We lost a lot of our pre-sales,” Miller said. “We basically had to scramble. There was no turning back. It was a tough deal, selling those condos. But we did it and were able to keep building.”

With McEuen Terrace up and running, Miller turned his attention to the 600 block facing Front Street. He and Stauffer acquired it all by 2006 and designed Parkside, a 20-story tower with 100,000 square feet of commercial, retail and office space and 53 condo units. Construction began in 2007 and the market crashed again. This time, they had borrowed $42 million.

“We had every unit reserved in Parkside. We were scrambling again. We finally stuck it out and got the condo units sold,” he said.

Now, all is good, Miller said. He and Stauffer have designed about 100 homes in the region in addition to Anthony’s Restaurant, the Kroc Center and McEuen Park in Coeur d’Alene.

More projects are in the works. But not retirement.

“I enjoy coming down here. I’ve got to babysit these buildings,” he said. “You don’t find many developments where the developer is still part of the association. The norm is to build the building and move on.

“We have a great relationship with everybody here. It’s wonderful.”

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Know a longtime local we should feature? Send your suggestions to Ric Clarke: clarke_ric@yahoo.com