Eastside Brick

Transformation of Courthouse East building is well under way

A woman with a sketch pad and a furrowed brow is curled up on a cushy couch in the corner. Watercolors and oil paintings light up the hall walls with bright splashes of color. The rich aroma of espresso wafts through the open window from the coffee house just outside the back door.

This scene exists only in imagination now, but Dave Rickert, Eric Berry and Vince Padilla intend to make it reality by the end of next year.

The trio, partners in DEV Properties, hope to infuse life in what was once Courthouse East, and before that, Kalispell General Hospital.

Considering just over a year ago the building was slated for demolition, achieving this will take considerable effort.

Right now, the woman on the sofa is just a signature on a contract. The watercolors have yet to be painted, but it doesn't really matter since sledgehammers have gouged gaping, uneven holes in the walls. There is coffee in the office, but the coffee house-to-be is nothing but a foundation littered with rubble.

But with a little time and a lot of money - probably around $4.5 million - the building will become all Rickert, Berry and Padilla hope it to be.

Dubbed Eastside Brick, the structure will be a multi-use building, with residential, commercial and professional space coexisting under one roof. The top two floors will become condominiums. The main floor is set aside for businesses and local entrepreneurs. The lower level will be transformed into artists' live/work studios and workshops.

The goal is to create a community of sorts, Berry said. That's why DEV is selling space to people who will actually use it and be an active part of Eastside Brick.

"We only want interested people to buy," he said. "We don't want investors to buy."

Mixed-use buildings are not uncommon in larger cities such as Portland or Seattle. In Kalispell, however, the concept is a novelty and consequently has drawn a mixed reaction from neighbors and city officials.

Some, like Jeff Wilson, an agent with Properties Northwest Real Estate, think the project will be a success.

"I think it's going to be an awesome asset, to Kalispell as a whole but especially to the east side," he said.

Not everyone is thrilled about it, however. DEV has met with some resistance from City Council members and neighbors.

Berry attributes some of this apprehension to the developer who originally bought the building in 2002. He angered many people when he tried to level the building and replace it with high-density housing without seeking the necessary zoning change from the city council.

Even though DEV Properties stepped in to buy the building, the original developer's attitude created lingering resentment in the neighborhood, Berry said.

"People think we're still him, and we have to say, 'No, we're not him,'" he said.

In June 2005, the City Council approved the zoning change that will make it possible for DEV to create the commercial and residential community the partnership has planned. The approval wasn't unanimous, however.

Councilman Bob Hafferman was hesitant to give the project the green light. He said he believed the neighbors' opinions weren't taken into consideration.

"There were people who come in with well-thought-out objections that weren't listened to, and that just disturbs the heck out of me," he said. "They're the ones we should be listening to."

Hafferman told the council that the concept had a lot of potential but "as presented, it needs more consideration of adjoining property owners."

DEV conducted a survey in the neighborhood within the first three months after they bought the property in January 2005. When they heard what the new developers planned for the building, most of the neighbors approved, Berry said.

Some east-side residents still oppose the project and say they never saw a survey. The neighbors are concerned about safety issues associated with the building, including increased traffic around Hedges School and asbestos removal.

Berry maintains that the traffic won't be much greater than it was when the building served as county government offices. As for the asbestos, Berry says rumors have made the issue sound worse than it really is.

There were stories that asbestos removal would cost as much as $1 million, he said, but the actual cost was $17,000.

Despite persistent opposition, the project has plunged ahead. And in recent months, the idea has become much more popular, Berry said.

"It's been pretty amazing to see the turnaround," he said.

George Taylor is one who has changed his mind. He was head of the city planning board when DEV submitted its proposal. Initially, Taylor and other board members didn't think the project was a good idea.

"We really didn't have a good vision … as to what they intended to do with the building," he said. "They were talking about putting in metal sculpture shops, hobby shops. It just didn't seem to us that you could fill up a

whole building like that in a community like Kalispell."

When DEV explained the vision as a more comprehensive community, with businesses included alongside the artists' studios, Taylor began to believe it was a viable option for the old courthouse. The developers said they planned to bring in service-oriented businesses, such as offices for doctors, lawyers and CPAs, to fill the main floor.

"And if that's done, that's a good thing, I think," Taylor said.

Currently, only one of the 24 available professional spaces has sold. Four of the nine live/work studios have sold, and two are pending.

DEV thought about keeping six of those spaces as lease units, Berry said, but will likely end up selling all of them.

"There's such a demand for buying that sometimes it's hard to say no," he said.

Wilson is confident that the rest of the space will go soon.

"The building's pretty contagious," he said. "It doesn't take much to get people to buy into the building."

The 19 condos put up for sale at the end of January this year were snatched up in about 10 days. They were so popular, Padilla said, that people kept bidding up the price until they got one. Based on size and view, the condos cost anywhere from $85,000 to $295,000.

The condos might be taken, but it will be some months before their owners can move in. Eastside Brick is really three buildings in one: two wings were added to the original 1911 hospital in 1948 and 1968. The overhaul likewise will take place in three phases, Padilla said.

Phase one, the center section, is scheduled for completion on Jan. 30, 2007. DEV hopes to have the south section finished in June 2007 and phase three - the north section and coffee house - completed by the end of that year.

The finished product will retain the building's historical appearance - without the crumbling brick and peeling paint that currently attest to its age.

"To me it [is] a unique opportunity to have a really dressed-up facility in the neighborhood," Taylor said.

For more information about Eastside Brick, visit www.eastsidebrick.com or call DEV Properties at 756-8563.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.