Redevelopment Master Plan Primes City for Smart Economic Development

Spokane is located in the heart of the Inland Northwest. With around 230,000 residents, it is the second most populous city in Washington and growing as affordable housing and a strong regional economy draw new people to the area. The City of Spokane is supporting family-wage, industrial jobs by promoting redevelopment of approximately 300 acres of underutilized land near the former Great Northern Railyard. The area, known as the Hillyard industrial area, presented a complex set of challenges, including insufficient infrastructure, dilapidated structures, and environmental contamination concerns.

MFA worked with the City of Spokane to prepare a master plan focused on job creation for the Hillyard industrial area. Working with the city, local stakeholders, and the community, MFA laid out a strategy for a phased infrastructure build-out that aligned with catalyst redevelopment projects in Spokane, including the completion of US 395, the North Spokane Corridor through Hillyard. 

The master planning process, led by MFA, coordinated city capital improvements and land use policy with the efforts of a public development authority, neighborhood groups, and private-sector businesses. The planning process also integrated technical assessment of infrastructure and environmental conditions, market analysis, and feedback from the community. The MFA project team also conducted a financial analysis to target incentives that attracted private investment and prepared a funding strategy to capture opportunities for federal and state grants to fund implementation of the redevelopment plan. 

Now, as economic development in Spokane surges, the city is able to receive that growth in a sustainable way. The redevelopment master plan has positioned the community to funnel industrial sector expansion where they want it to be for maximum public benefit.