A complicated funding tool helps a West Central business make public investments

A West Central business trying to build an oasis in the neighborhood's food desert will receive nearly a quarter-million dollars in public funding through a decades-old mechanism that is only just recently starting to pay dividends.

Jolly and Daniel Ghebreab, two brothers who immigrated from Eritrea 17 years ago, launched Broadway Foods and Broadway Laundromat at the beginning of the year to much fanfare in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the state. The grocery store is three times the size of the prior building at the location, the laundromat is new and staffed with two full-time employees, and the brothers' investment in the community is drawing attention in the neighborhood.

The commitment also came through during the actual construction process, according to city officials. They fixed the sidewalks and curbs, added landscaping and made improvements to the crosswalk, which is normal for a major rebuild, said Kevin Friebott, a senior planner for the city.

"But they went above and beyond," he said. "They moved some power poles out from in middle of the sidewalk - there's no requirement to do that, but they wanted to move them to make the sidewalk usable, safe and accessible. They could have just patched up the alley, but saw it was as bad as it was so they replaced the whole thing."

Because the Ghebreab's invested heavily in infrastructure that is ultimately owned by the city, they were able to tap into a special fund that aims to compensate such investments in a historically underinvested area: the tax increment finance district, or TIF. The area of West Central where the Broadway businesses were built sits inside one of a few such districts in city limits, created nearly two decades ago initially to aid the development of Kendall Yards, but which was drafted in such a way that it could benefit the low-income areas nearby.

WTH is a TIF

Tax -increment finance districts are an odd, complicated tool that allow developers and cities to effectively avoid paying for costly public infrastructure that accompanies major developments, such as the streets, sidewalks, utility hookups and other public amenities necessary to make a building usable.

The tool functions by capturing property tax increases and setting them aside to pay for those infrastructure projects.

If a home worth $1 million is built on an empty lot, the property tax bill for that lot increases dramatically because the property is worth more. That extra tax money flows into city, county and school coffers for use across their jurisdictions.

But if the same home is built in a tax-increment finance district, some percentage of the higher property tax bill is instead squirreled away into a dedicated fund explicitly for building public infrastructure inside of the district. Hence the name: the incremental increase in taxes finances projects in the district.

In some cases, that can mean the city uses the TIF funding to directly improve public infrastructure like a roadway. In others, developers can get compensation from the fund for public amenities they build around their private projects - sidewalks, utility connections, and other infrastructure that the local government owns but are necessary for the private building to function.

Tax-increment finance districts are not without controversy, with the tool facing criticism when it subsidizes a large developer who would otherwise pay to create or improve public assets that benefit the development.

Only city and county taxes get diverted in the West Quadrant TIF fund. School taxes continue to flow as they normally would.

On the other hand, tax-increment financing allows the infrastructure to be built in the near-term without using those same general public funds

Proponents argue the tool encourages development where it otherwise wouldn't pencil. Sidewalks, street lights and utility hookups are expensive, particularly in undeveloped areas, and that added cost could make the difference in whether a project pencils out - whether this is truly the case for Kendall Yards was a heated debate two decades ago when the West Quadrant TIF District was first considered, but the land had sat vacant for years despite prior efforts to build.

Liz Marlin, a West Central resident who serves on the advisory committee for neighborhood projects funded by the district, believes the West Quadrant District is an example of the tool being used well.

While the district helped create Kendall Yards, a high-end development built over the remediated site of an old train depot whose residents now include figures like Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, the district's design lets some of the benefits spill over into the rest of the largely low-income area north of the river.

"I'm pleased with how it's worked for West Central," Brown said in an interview. "Since I live near the neighborhood ... I hear a lot from neighbors and friends about the investments and process, and they feel good about it."

The West Quadrant District is unusual in this way. When it was formed, it was broken into two sections: one that largely covers the Kendall Yards development and another that covers much of the northern part of the West Central Neighborhood developed much earlier and parts of the Emerson/Garfield Neighborhood , including an oddly shaped arm that covers a narrow, two-mile stretch around Monroe Street. Tax money raised in Kendall Yards can only be used for infrastructure in Kendall Yards, while money raised in the rest of the district can be used elsewhere.

For Kendall Yards, the increasing property values that fund its subarea of the district come from an obvious source: high-end development is worth substantially more than an abandoned train depot. But for the rest of the district, a significant portion of its rising property values come from proximity to Kendall Yards, not necessarily new development.

"When they limit (a TIF district) to just the new buildings, the end result is a big divide between the haves and have-nots," Marlin said. "Rather than just another luxury condo building, this dedicates funds to public infrastructure outside of Kendall Yards."

The district has suffered some setbacks, and the uses of is funding haven't always thrilled residents living within its borders.

Not long after the district was formed, the Great Recession severely impacted property values, leading to a lost decade of expected revenue. And in 2019, the Spokane City Council voted to spend $500,000 from the fund to help repair a worn pedestrian bridge over the Spokane River in Riverfront Park, which some neighbors saw as a raid of funds meant to help their neighborhood to instead beautify the city's marquee park property.

Anger with that decision reinvigorated the neighborhood's involvement in the district and the uses of its fund, and Marlin believes the area is starting to see a return on that effort, such as investments in Dutch Jake Park or infrastructure for the Native Project's new children and youth services center. Brown recently announced $1.2 million in TIF funds would be spent on rehabilitating or building seven affordable housing units, a use the state recently allowed, in West Central.

Working with the city to receive some of those funds was a relatively clear, albeit slow, process, said Jolly Ghebreab in an interview. There have been a few complications working with the contractors, who already have been paid and moved on to other projects, to complete the city's paperwork even after the council approved a $225,000 refund for his project in late May.

But when the money comes, it will be a major boon for a business that is still just getting on its feet.

"It's a very good program," Jolly said. "We're millions in debt and paying off the interest, and this money gives me a bit of a break, because money is very, very tight."

Though the businesses have been open since January, the Ghebreab's haven't had the liquid cash on hand to spend on a grand opening event, with all of the costs for advertising, giveaways and entertainment that may entail.

After that, "this money will go into hiring more staff, expanding hours, and the rest will go back to the bank to pay off our loans," he said.

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This story was originally published June 7, 2026 at 8:04 AM.