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Nordstrom Gets Its Way with Spokane
First Seattle, Next Spokane, Then the World?

While the local dailies, the Seattle Weekly, TV stations, and even the local NPR station were busy reporting on the "Nordstrom Way" of customer service or printing fraternity photos of the Nordstrom family tree, the Free Press delved into the details of the $24 million in federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) aid for the Nordstrom redevelopment in downtown Seattle (WFP Issue #16). We revealed a city bending over backward to cater to the upscale retailer, including some $60 million of city financing for a parking garage to service the planned Nordstrom site.

Instead of being an isolated instance, it now appears that Nordstrom is having its "way" with other city governments as well.
In Spokane, a similar HUD deal is also being wheeled for a development keyed around Nordstrom. HUD has already earmarked a $1 million grant, and the city of Spokane has filed an application for further HUD loan guarantees of about $24 million for the project. The proposed Nordstrom deal in Spokane also includes an $11 million city-financed parking garage. Deja vu!
HUD assistance is typically reserved for projects benefiting lower income Americans, but the city of Seattle has pioneered the way for giving such government aid to corporations. The city lobbied for a new state law, passed in May of this year, which allows federal loan guarantees for cities to be applied to private projects.
Spokane attorney Steve Eugster is challenging the law in court, charging that it violates Article 8 Section 7 of the Washington state constitution, which prohibits cities from "lending credit" to private entities. If successful, Eugster's court case could monkeywrench Nordstrom's plans for the near future.
Seattle activist Jordan Brower is involved with a similar court challenge, and has called for an investigation of the Seattle HUD deal. Brower claims that HUD approved a loan guarantee for renovating the future Nordstrom site (the now vacant Frederick & Nelson building) without ever conducting its own inspection of the property to confirm if it was worthy of a "blight" designation, which is one requirement for HUD aid. Brower has requested documents from HUD under the Freedom of Information Act and is waiting for compliance.

-Doug Collins
The Free Press

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Contents on this page were published in the August/September, 1995 edition of the Washington Free Press.
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