The proposed development of an office-retail complex on the east side of downtown Spokane, which investors had said earlier they were considering, now appears poised to move ahead.


Spokane real estate specialist Dick Edwards, one of the investors, says revised plans call for the phased construction of two two-story, 6,000-square-foot buildings, separated by a landscaped courtyard, on a 27,000-square-foot site in the west 200 block of Main Avenue on the south side of the street.


Construction of one of the two buildings will begin as soon as a building permit can be obtained and should be completed by next summer, Edwards says. Construction timing for the second building would depend on market demand for the space in the building, he says.


Edwards and Paul Hawkins, who work together in the Hawkins Edwards Inc. commercial-industrial real estate agency here, bought the site from Spokane developer Harry Green this fall for $340,000. They earlier had tied up the property with a preliminary purchase offer while they explored the feasibility of developing it. The undeveloped site, which is dominated by a basalt rock ledge that essentially divides the property into two levels, currently is used for parking.


The building complex now envisioned there is somewhat smaller in scope than what had been considered earlier. The initial concept was for a single structure standing three stories or taller, with about 7,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, enclosed parking on the second floor (accessible from the higher-elevation alleyway that runs along the top of the rock bluff to the south), and office space on the upper floors.


Under the revised plans, the twin brick-faade buildings would have about 3,000 square feet of floor space on each floor, for a total of about 12,000 square feet, and all parking would be outside at the rear of the property. At a typical price of about $100 a square foot for downtown building space, the total cost of the project could exceed $1 million.


One of the buildings would be constructed at the west end of the site, next to an older, four-story building at 239 W. Main that the Spokane-based Phelps & Woodhead Inc. investment brokerage renovated and uses partly for its main offices. The other building would be constructed at the east end of the site, next to a small, vacant building that most recently had housed a coffee shop. The courtyard separating the two buildings would include stairs leading to the elevated, 37-space parking lot at the rear.


Edwards says a decision hasnt been made yet as to which building will be developed first. Hawkins Edwards, currently located on the third floor of the Riverpoint One building, at 501 N. Riverpoint Blvd., would move to the first building constructed there and probably would occupy the entire second floor. Tenants are being sought for the remaining space in that building and both floors of the planned second building, Edwards says. Its unclear at this point, he says, whether the buildings will house strictly office tenants or a mix of office and retail users. He adds that he and Hawkins remain interested in finding tenant-partners who could become part-owners of the proposed building complex.


Edwards says he considers the site to be attractive for retail-office development partly because of its proximity to other envisioned development activity on the east side of downtown, including the proposed convention center expansion, and because its just west of Browne Street, which offers quick access to Interstate 90.