Spokane-based trial attorneys Kevin W. Roberts and Chad Freebourn, owners of Roberts Freebourn PLLC, have purchased the historic, three-story 1889 Building in the downtown core for $1.5 million.

Located at 120 N. Stevens, the 12,000-square-foot building houses Just a Couple of Moms Catering LLC, which does business as Nectar Catering & Events, on the building’s ground floor. The partners say they will continue leasing the first floor to Nectar, which also uses a commercial-grade kitchen located in the basement. 

Roberts says he, Freebourn, and their business partner Joseph Mayo, a Spokane-based attorney and businessperson who owns several Spokane-area buildings, acquired the 1889 Building in late September from Yakima, Washington-based real estate investor Roger Wilson, who purchased the building in 2019.

Roberts and Freebourn say they have admired the 1889 Building for a long time.

“We had our eye on it, and it just so happened that Chad found it the day they put it on sale,” says Roberts. “We bought it within a day.”

The three partners obtained financing through Walla Walla, Washington-based Banner Bank to purchase the building, he says.

The firm, which consists of three attorneys and an overall staff of seven, has moved into 3,000 square feet of office space on the third floor of the building, from its previous location in the Eldridge Building, at 1325 W. First, says Roberts.

The partners plan to turn the second floor into individual office spaces, which they intend to lease to professionals such as accountants, counselors, and service-industry attorneys that are seeking a small office space.

“We think that it would be really helpful for those types of people to have that floor with individual office spaces for rent,” says Roberts. “We think that may be a better fit than trying to lease a whole floor to (businesses).”

According to Spokane City Historic Preservation Office, the 1889 Building is the oldest remaining building from the post-Great Spokane Fire era. 

The structure has prominent semi-circular arches, and a richly detailed brick and stone-face granite trim and represents the beginnings of the new business district in Spokane, the Preservation Office states.