“A first step for Spokane and other cities in revitalizing their central business district is to provide parking, this center, we feel, goes a long way towards filling that need here”, commented John G. F.

[7] Spokane Unlimited Inc., a nonprofit organization of the city's business leaders concerned with revitalizing the downtown area, advocated such a parking structure as one of the first major moves in halting congestion resulting from the auto.

“This is a way to halt it – make potential income from surrounding properties so high owners can't afford to leave it unimproved at present rental rates.”[7] The new Parkade project encompassed not only a large parking structure but eight businesses that would occupy the second-level skywalk level, including R. Alan Brown Interior Design Studio, a Hickory Farms retail store, Early Dawn Ice Cream shop, Northwest Radio & TV store, and an art gallery hosted by the R. Alan Interior Design Studio in the rotunda under the helical down ramp of the parking center.

It is aesthetic and functional and is already spurring plans for upgrading other properties around it.”[10] In 2020, an investment firm bought the Parkade Plaza and started renovations that included replacing structural supports, new lighting, repainting the exterior, and modernizing the mechanical equipment in the building with energy efficient units.

[12] And people were the center of the design claimed the architect Heylman, “There will be a news stand and outdoor restaurant with brightly colored umbrellas, a city ticket booth, and other pleasant facilities.