An investment group headed by Spokane contractor Barry Baker has agreed to buy the historic Schade Brewery building.


The five-story structure is located at 528 E. Trent, next to the Riverpoint Higher Education Park just east of downtown Spokane. It includes a total of 90,000 square feet of floor space and currently is vacant, but in recent years has been rehabilitated as commercial and office space.


Baker, president and CEO of Baker Construction & Development Inc., says the investment group is trying to resolve a few environmental issues on the propertys east side before closing on the transaction. The group wants to cap that area with a parking lot, but is looking into whether that is a suitable solution.


We dont want to buy something where we have a liability later on, Baker says.


Barring any setbacks, the group hopes that the transaction will be completed this fall.


Baker says the investment group includes himself and a few other Spokane businessmen, including other principals in Baker Construction. He declines for now to disclose further information about the group or the terms of the pending transaction.


The group hopes to attract an upscale restaurant for the buildings first floor and to market the structures top four floors as office space, Baker says.


The views from that building are phenomenal, Baker says. The structure overlooks the Spokane River and the Riverpoint and Gonzaga campuses.


Jeff McGougan, of Tomlinson Black Commercial Inc., already has begun marketing the property for lease on the behalf of Bakers group.


The group doesnt have any prospective tenants signed on yet, but its purchase of the building isnt contingent on having tenants lined up, Baker says.


The building doesnt need any significant upgrades, he says, adding, The previous developer did a nice job.


Bakers group is buying the Schade building from AmericanWest Bank, of Spokane. The bank assumed ownership of the structure after the previous owner, Schade Towers LLC, filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in 2000.


Schade Towers, led by Mark Leonard, of Valleyford, Wash., bought the brewery building in the late 1990s through a trustees sale, made substantial upgrades to the structure, and attracted a few tenants before filing for reorganization.


Leonard had sued United Security Bank, now called AmericanWest, alleging that the bank fraudulently lured him into buying and refurbishing the Schade building by rushing him to commit to a loan for the property. A Spokane County Superior Court jury found in favor of the bank in May 2003.


In 1997, United Security Bank loaned Leonard $2.9 million to buy and renovate the building.