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Home What Works for Me Walt and Karen Worthy: Worthy Enterprises
Walt and Karen Worthy: Worthy Enterprises Print E-mail
THE BUILDER AND REMODELER: How does one go about becoming one of Spokane’s most prolific and memorable commercial builders, renovators, innovators and community partners? You start small, very, very small. Walt’s first Spokane project was a speculative house in 1970 while he was a survival instructor stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base. This was followed by a number of other small remodeling projects in the early 70s. When he and Karen married in 1974, she was teaching first grade and he started building or remodeling various properties for them to keep and rent long-term. These included duplexes, student housing at Gonzaga, mini storage, condos, a number of large commercial buildings which were converted to office space, new office buildings and The Davenport Hotel and Tower. 

SIGNATURE PROJECTS: The Rock Pointe Corporate Center evolved atop a rock outcropping at the corner of Boone Avenue and Washington Street in 1986. It grew to include four separate, yet distinctively connected, buildings totaling 565,000 square feet. We sold all our commercial holdings except Rock Pointe to finance the purchase and renovation of The Davenport Hotel.

The Davenport Hotel was purchased in 2000 and opened in 2002. The Wells Fargo Building in downtown Spokane was purchased in 2003 and sold in 2005. The Davenport Tower was built in 2006 and opened late that year. The Hotel Lusso was acquired in 2009 and is currently undergoing renovations. The latest project, River View Corporate Center, is a new 260,000 square foot office building located in the Spokane Valley. The first tenant occupied space in 2008.
 
WALT’S PHILOSOPHY: To be successful in life and in business, one must first and foremost want to be successful. Fire in the belly is, in my opinion, the most important attribute necessary to get ahead. You can’t be good at everything, so find your niche and be the best.  Figuring out what to do is the hard part; doing it is usually relatively easy. You need to have total confidence in yourself even if others don’t. You can do most anything if you have the right people helping you. Eliminate the words “no” and “can’t” from your vocabulary; never accept either as an answer to a question. You should never knowingly take very much risk, especially once you have something to lose.  

KAREN’S REFLECTIONS ON THEIR SUCCESS: Walt is a visionary. And he loves a challenge. He likes to do projects that others think can’t be done.  He can usually look at an opportunity and know quickly if it’s viable or not. When we decide to proceed with a project, supporting each other and motivating our team is critical. Our long-term employees have been instrumental in the success of our projects.  The overwhelming support of the community, and our great staff, has been instrumental in the success of The Davenport Hotel.