A $4.5 million rehabilitation project is now under way at the historic Schade Brewery building east of downtown, and the buildings owner says he has landed a tenant that plans to occupy between 15,000 and 20,000 square feet of space on the buildings main floor.


The owner, Portland-area businessman Mark Leonard, says that he cant disclose the name of the main-floor tenant yet, but he expects the tenant to move in by Christmas. Also, Aracelias Mexican Food Restaurant, which has been located in the Schade Brewery since late 1996, will occupy about 2,500 square feet of space on the main floor, he says.


Meanwhile, the Spokane Historic Landmarks Commission has approved several planned improvements to the building, including a glass-enclosed entry on the buildings west side, a glass-enclosed atrium on its east, or rear, side, and a roof-top addition on the south side, says Gary Connor, an architect with 3E Design Group Inc., the Spokane firm that is designing the improvements.


Leonard already has installed on the buildings tower a peaked copper roof and a round, blue-and-ivory leaded-glass window that touts the new name of the building, Schade Towers. Both of those improvements received approval recently from the landmarks commission.


Inside the building, workers now are installing an elevator, repairing the buildings staircase, and have brought the upper floors and the buildings two basement floors up to the build-out stage, which means that those floors meet building code requirements and are ready for tenant improvements, Leonard says. He says that the new elevator will travel from the lowest basement level up to a new sixth-floor rooftop area, which will house a penthouse office space that Leonard says will have a major view. Leonard says he is negotiating with a couple of possible tenants for that space. That expansion is expected to get under way within the next two months and to take about 30 days to complete.


We have left the best for last, though, he says. The entire main floor will have drastic things done to it.


Within the next 60 days, workers will begin building the glass-enclosed main entry, Leonard says. They also are cleaning the bricks on the exterior of the building now.


Also, workers are expected to begin paving a parking lot just west of the building within the next month. Leonard says that he has bought about an acre of land just east of the building, which also will be paved soon. Those two parking lots should give the building about 300 parking spaces, he says. Plus, he adds, further expansion of the parking areas is planned later.


Leonard says that the glass-enclosed atrium planned on the east side of the Schade building will be built and used by the main-floor tenant that has been secured.


James W. Elmer Construction Co., of Spokane, is the general contractor for the project.