Real estate firm’s renovation of downtown Spokane building will lead to move

A 94-year-old building on Second Avenue will see a major renovation, according to permits issued by the city.

The $1.2 million remodel of the 14,200-square-foot building at 915 W. Second Ave. also will improve the adjoining 45-stall parking lot to the south. When complete, 4 Degrees Real Estate will consolidate its property management and real estate offices there. The real estate company purchased the building in July for $1.08 million through a subsidiary.

Steven Hewett, director of design with Spokane’s HDG Architecture, said in an email his company will take the building “back down to its bones and then pretty much put back together from the ground up.”

The existing brick facade, part of a 1978 renovation, will be removed and its Second Avenue face will be returned to to what it looked like in 1924, when the building was built. Sixteen-foot-wide windows will face the street and skylights will be installed throughout the building to “bring as much natural light in as possible,” Hewett said.

When complete, the building will house offices, conference rooms, a kitchen, an “outdoor feeling breakout area” with a 30-foot skylight and a 1,300-square-foot employee workout facility with shower rooms.

The project is expected to wrap up in spring 2019, when the building will be occupied by 4 Degrees Real Estate, which is owned by Brothers Jordan and Joel Tampien.

The brothers have other plans for buildings on the west end of downtown, including a $9.5 million, seven-story residential tower at 1309 W. First Ave. That project is being done with another set of brothers, Matt and Ryan Goodwin.

Matt Goodwin and Jordan Tampien also have plans to open Brick West Brewing as early as next summer in the former Watts Automotive, 1312 W. First Avenue. The two are co-owners of the Boiler Room on Spokane’s North Side and Backyard Public House in the West Central neighborhood.

Hewett said the Second Avenue project shows the Tampiens’ “commitment and appreciation for Spokane” and their desire to “re-invigorating and bringing life back to areas in our community that need it, and that brings benefit back to the community.”

The architect for the Second Avenue project is HDG Architecture. The general contractor is T.W. Clark, of Spokane Valley. DCI Engineers did the engineering work.