Alvin J. Wolff Inc., of Spokane, has broken ground on an $8.5 million, 186-unit apartment complex in Liberty Lake.


Work on the big complex began last month on a 9.5-acre site just north of Country Vista Drive, to the east of and behind an Albertsons Inc. supermarket that anchors Liberty Lake Town Center. The complex, which is to be called Big Trout Lodge and will include a total of 11 buildings, is expected to be ready for renters by next July, says Fritz H. Wolff, a member of Alvin J. Wolff Inc.s board of directors and son of Alvin J. Fritz Wolff Jr., who heads the Wolff group of companies, which includes Alvin J. Wolff Inc.


The younger Wolff says the 165,000-square-foot complex will include four 24-unit buildings, two 22-unit buildings, two 16-unit buildings, and a 14-unit building. It also will include a clubhouse building, a building that will house exercise equipment, an outdoor pool, a playground and grassy common areas, and parking garages and carports.


Each apartment building will have a mixture of one-bedroom apartment units with about 750 square feet of floor space; two-bedroom units with between 850 and 900 square feet of space; and three-bedroom units with between 1,200 and 1,350 square feet of space. Each unit also will include a washer, dryer, and air conditioner.


Although monthly rents have yet to be set, Wolff says that the apartments probably will rent for between $500 and $950 a month, depending on their size. The three-bedroom units, which will be built on the ends of the buildings, will resemble townhouses, and will have drive-in garages with a stairway leading to the apartment unit from the garage.


Wolff says many of the parking areas will be located under the residential buildings for security and convenience.


The A-framed clubhouse will have hardwood floors and a rock fireplace, a kitchen, a computer-use area, and a large gathering area with couches and other furniture. Each residential building will have rock surfaces on its ends and a wood-shake exterior finish.


Wolff believes that the Big Trout Lodge development will be the first apartment complex of any significant size in the Liberty Lake area, which he says is attractive to the company because of the areas rapid growth recently.


Inland Construction Co., of Spokane, is the general contractor on the complex, which was designed by Wolff Planning Group, also of Spokane.