here - The Liberty Lake Splash

10 • Sept. 13, 2012The SplashEconomic progressseen in building uptickPermit revenue, residentialsales have risen significantlyin Liberty Lake in 2012By Josh JohnsonSplash Staff WriterRudy Torres spends up to 60 percent ofhis time on loan.Officially, the building permit specialistis employed by the city of Cheney, but aftera memorandum of understanding wasapproved by the Liberty Lake City Councilearlier this month, Torres could spend24 hours of his workweek helping ease theworkload for Spokane County’s easternmostcity.Facing an unexpected surge in residentialbuilding activity in 2012, LibertyLake officials looked to Cheney for help inkeeping up with the steady flow of neededinspections and permits. Enter Torres,who Cheney agreed to loan Liberty Lakefor $55 an hour.The permit fees more than cover thecost to borrow Torres, as a recent reportby city of Liberty Lake Finance DirectorRJ Stevenson reveals. Stevenson said thatthrough Aug. 31 — two-thirds of the waythrough the city’s fiscal year — LibertyLake has collected $247,000 in permittingrevenue. The city anticipated collecting$180,000 all year.While permit revenue can come fromcommercial projects, Stevenson said it isresidential growth, primarily in the singlefamily housing market, that is fuelingthe uptick. He pointed to a Copper BasinConstruction project on Legacy Ridge andparticularly the two major Liberty Lakedevelopments by Greenstone Homes andNeighborhoods — Rocky Hill and the RiverDistrict — as the major growth areas.Permitting hasn’t come close to the levelsseen between 2006 and 2008, when anaverage of 1,204 projects were inspectedeach year compared to an average of 679between 2009 and 2011. In 2008, commercialpermits brought in nearly $520,000versus a meager $17,000 in 2011. Withstaffing levels trimmed and three years ofa dwindling stream, Stevenson budgetedeven lower permit revenue for 2012.“I think we were conservative on budgetestimates,” he said. “We have a lotmore activity than anticipated, and weare not staffed to that level. But I don’t seethings coming back to 2007 levels. Thatwould take a lot of changes in the environment.”Drew Benado, land development managerfor Greenstone Homes and Neighborhoods,said the Liberty Lake-basedcompany is beginning to see such changestake hold. He said people are not only beginningto feel better about the economy,but many prospective buyers who wereprevented from making a purchase duringthe recession from an inability to selltheir existing home are seeing those credit-freeingtransactions beginning to takeplace.It’s all added up in a big way for Greenstone.Benado said year-to-date sales inRocky Hill are up 93 percent from thesame time frame in 2011. In the River District,the trend is even better — sales are up115 percent. Benado noted the purchaseswere being made by all types of buyers,from entry level to empty nesters, on alltypes of products, from townhomes andcottages priced below $200,000 to largersingle family homes nearer $300,000.Liberty Lake Mayor Steve Peterson saidboth sellers and buyers are benefiting fromunfathomable interest rates.“You couldn’t go back to 1950 and findinterest rates at 2.5 percent for a 30-yearmortgage,” Peterson said. “In my lifetime,I’ve never experienced 2.5 percent mortgages.”Peterson said the boom in building permitsis as much about local identity as therecovering economy, however.“People are choosing to live in LibertyLake above other places,” he said. “Why?It’s clean, green and safe. That’s what’s drivingour community. We invest in our community.We invest in the infrastructure.”cover storySplash photo by Josh JohnsonThe groundwork is being set for The Courtyard at River District to take shape north of BitterrootLodge. The 47-unit community will feature apartments and townhomes for lease.Work under way on 47-unitCourtyard at River DistrictBy Josh JohnsonSplash Staff WriterThe transformation of a 3-acre lotnorth of Bitterroot Lodge into a highend,for-lease development has begun,and Greenstone Homes and Neighborhoodshopes to have the first units readyfor lease by February or March of nextyear, said Drew Benado, the Liberty Lakecompany’s land development manager.When completed, The Courtyard atRiver District is planned to be a fivebuilding,47-unit housing development.Benado said Courtyard will be a “differentproduct type” from its neighboringcomplex to the south in that it will feature15 townhomes available for lease.“It’s more of a standard home thanan apartment, but it’s also maintenancefree,” Benado said.The other 32 units will be variationsof apartments. The community will nothave a clubhouse like Bitterroot Lodge,and it is viewed by Greenstone as astandalone development, not a Bitterrootaddition, Benado said.While the streets have yet to be putin, The Courtyard at River District willbe located southwest of the future intersectionof Bitterroot Street and IndianaAvenue. For now, the development willbe accessible by taking Bitterroot off ofMission Avenue, Benado said plans callfor Indiana to connect with and extendthrough Harvard Road in the comingyears.The north side of Indiana is also slatedto have a pedestrian trail that will eventuallyparallel the Centennial Trail throughthe River District, Benado said. Part ofa master-planned community betweenInterstate 90 and the Spokane River, theRiver District’s long-term plan extendsfrom the Spokane Valley city limit to thewest beyond Harvard Road to the east.Benado said The Courtyard is aimedat a growing market of people lookingto move into a home-like, maintenancefreelifestyle through a high-end lease.On the coverSplash photo by Josh JohnsonA framing crew adds shape to a homeat the intersection of Country Vistaand Bergamot in the Rocky Hill neighborhoodof Liberty Lake. The house,along with several neighboring lotsthat are yet to be framed, has alreadybeen sold.Submitted renderingNext spring, Greenstone Homes and Neighborhoods plans for The Courtyard at River District to look something like this.