Built in 1909, the Fifth Avenue Flats represent the residential movement beyond the city’s central business district to neighborhoods such as the lower South Hill, Browne’s Addition, and the Monroe Street car route. At the turn of the century and a decade beyond, single room occupancy hotels, boarding houses, and lodgings dominated the types of housing built within the downtown sphere, accommodating Spokane’s surging population. Apartment buildings, as a distinct multi-family housing type, were in the early stage of development in Spokane. The Fifth Avenue Flats was a precursor to the dozens of apartment buildings that would be built between Fourth Avenue and the basalt bluff of the South Hill. The three-story pinkish-red brick building is a richly-detailed and beautifully-articulated apartment building that displays sophistication in design and use of quality materials with a bit of European flair. Although using classical elements, the building does not represent a definable style in the lexicon of American architecture. Unique in Spokane is the elongated archway that frames the deep main entry bay and recessed open porches that are highlighted by elaborate wrought iron balconies. Its basalt rubble and brick foundation; symmetrical brick façade with contrasting white brick voussoired flat and segmental-arched window bays; and pronounced pressed cornice; are characteristic building features of the first decade of the 20th century, and are blended nicely to create a pleasing building facade.

Management Agreement