Nystrom Olson Inc., a Spokane architectural concern, and Edwards LaLone Travel Inc., a longtime Spokane travel agency, have moved from separate downtown locations into neighboring offices on the second floor of the former First National Bank building, at 502 W. Riverside.

Nystrom Olson principals Sam Nystrom and Chris Olson are part of an ownership group led by Spokane sports team owner and real estate investor Bobby Brett that bought the building in February, Nystrom says. Nystrom's wife, Cathy Nystrom, owns the travel agency.

The two-story, 24,000-square-foot building is being rebranded as the Numerica Building. As the Journal reported earlier, Spokane Valley-based Numerica Credit Union plans to open in September a downtown branch that will occupy 3,000 square feet of space on the ground floor of the building, where it plans to focus on business banking.

Chris Batten, owner of RenCorp Realty LLC, of Spokane, says other prospective tenants, whom he declines to identify for now, are in negotiations to lease most of the remaining space, leaving about 2,500 square feet of space yet available.

Batten is the leasing agent and also a member of the building's ownership group, 1953 Box LLC.

Nystrom Olson now occupies 2,800 square feet of floor space formerly occupied by the Metro Caf on the skywalk level of the building, having moved there from leased space at 912 W. Sprague.

Nystrom Olson is a boutique architectural studio specializing in sustainable designs. The company was founded in 2005 and employs five people in addition to the principals, Nystrom says.

Some of the firm's more visible design projects include the Banner Bank building downtown, the Northtown Square retail center , and the Flying Goat restaurant, in northwest Spokane.

Cathy Nystrom says she bought Edwards LaLone from Leslie Edwards in February, after working for the agency for 22 years. The travel agency occupies 1,000 square feet of office space, also on the skywalk level of the building, she says. Edwards LaLone has nine employees, three of whom work outside of the office. The agency specializes in family and leisure travel, and it also serves group and corporate clients, Nystrom says.

Edwards LaLone is busy despite all of the online travel options, she says.

"We feel we're in an upward trend over the last couple of years," she says. "With the advent of the Internet, our work is more specialized in handling more complex trips that the traveler might not be able to arrange online. That's better business for us."

Nystrom says she decided to move the agency a few blocks west because of her husband's ownership interest in the building.

Spokane County Assessor's records show Box 1953 paid $500,000 for the building in February.

The ownership group is investing another $900,000 in remodeling and tenant improvements to the building, Batten says. Basso LLC, of Post Falls, is the construction manager on the project.

Brett heads several sports- and real estaterelated concerns, including groups that bought the Spokane Indians baseball club in 1984 and the Spokane Chiefs hockey team about five years later.