Once the home of two long time Spokane business, two adjoining Downtown buildings have both been sold ( in two separate transactions, but to the same owner's ) and will be renovated for new retail / restaurant / ? uses. Those two buildings are the former Huppin's at 421 W. Main and the former Dutch's music store directly east of the Huppin's.
Huppin's is still in business but permanently closed the Downtown store last year. The store, which is locally based and sells a wide array of electronics is now open only at their North Spokane store at 8016 N. Division, near the intersection of Division and Lincoln. Dutch's however is no longer in business as it closed late last year after 98 years in business.
Both buildings we're recently sold to Chris Batten, Bobby Brett and John Pariseau . Batten and Brett are known locally for also owning the Spokane Indians, baseball team and the Spokane Chiefs , hockey team.
An extensive remodel of the structures is planned with the first new tenants tentatively planned to open as soon as March. All space will be leased out with 2 new tenants already lined up, those tenants include:
Durkin's Liquor Bar
Durkin's Liquor Bar will be a new bar and restaurant coming from the same people who also operate Madeline's Café & Patisserie, also Downtown and Casper Fry in the South Perry District.
Durkin's will be a new concept that was described in a recent edition of The Inlander's Entrée Newsletter as " Very Americana"
We are still working on gathering more info on this new restaurant and hope to post about it separately at some time in the future.
Spokane Exercise Equipment
Spokane Exercise Equipment , a retailer of exercise machines and equipment will relocate to the space soon. The store is moving there from another location Downtown, and actually just down to street.
Spokane Exercise Equipment is moving from less the a block west in the Bennett Block building. The move is in part due to major renovations that also began recently at that building.
For more info on the renovations at the Bennett Block, check this prior article link-
http://www.inlandnwbusiness.com/2013/04/big-changes-in-store-for-bennett-block.html
More tenants are also planned but not yet announced. The move to purchase the building by the new owners was in part due to the nearby Convention Center Hotel tower going up now about 2 blocks away for this project site.
The design work at the site was done by the Spokane based Nystrom + Olson Architecture. Keep watching Inland Northwest Business Watch for info on this and the several other Downtown building projects.
