Completion date for Macy's building renovation pushed to 2018

SPOKANE, Wash --- Construction on the old Macy’s building in downtown Spokane will not be completed until next spring.

The first two floors of the former Macy’s building were set to open for retail use as early as November. Some set-backs in construction, like flooding in the basement, has pushed back the opening date until spring.

When the downtown Spokane Macy’s closed in January 2016, renovations quickly followed.

Centennial Properties bought the building and announced a plan to renovate the first two floors into a new retail space with the remaining seven floors for residential use.

The new building will be called “The M,” it will feature 109 units ranging from 750 square feet to 1500 square feet. There are no price ranges set for these apartments yet. There will be a rooftop deck for all apartments that is dog friendly, it will also have a kitchen, seating and firepits.

Now, about a year after the plans were announced, developers said construction will take longer than expected.

“I work right next door so it’s very good for business. We’ve been getting a lot more business having the construction guys come in. It’s been a reoccurring, everyday thing,” said downtown Bruchi’s employee, Blake King-Krueger.

The retailers that will inhabit the building have not been announced yet. The original plan was for these businesses to open by Black Friday, but now it will not happen until 2018.

"Downtown I think they need something more along the lines of almost like a Target or some sort of larger convenience store for the people who live around here instead of these corner pocket stores,” said King-Krueger.

The city is looking over the request to build floors three through eight for residential use. If it is approved it will make way for over 100 new apartments, with penthouse suites on the ninth floor.

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