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Bank of Whitman building downsized, opening in January

The Bank of Whitman Building in downtown Spokane is scheduled to be completed in January 2006. The building will be three stories with the bank on the ground floor. (Photo courtesy of Bank of Whitman / The Spokesman-Review)
By Alison Boggs alisonb@spokesman.com(509) 459-5314
The Bank of Whitman Building in downtown Spokane is scheduled to be completed in January 2006. The building will be three stories with the bank on the ground floor. (Photo courtesy of Bank of Whitman / The Spokesman-Review)

The Bank of Whitman building in the center of downtown Spokane should be complete in January, the bank announced Wednesday.

A new bank branch will occupy the first floor and the two upper floors will be leased as office space. The 68,000-square-foot bank building is being reconstructed at 618 W. Riverside Ave., on the site of the former Lamonts and Newberry’s stores between Wall and Howard streets.

Tomlinson Black’s commercial and property management divisions have been hired to manage and lease the new building. Vandervert Construction is heading the remodeling project, according to a news release.

The Bank of Whitman purchased the building from Vandervert last fall and reduced the project’s size from five floors to three, said Bill Knox, the bank’s chief operating officer.

Knox estimated the total value of the project at about $12 million.

Each floor will have more than 20,000 square feet, which may appeal to companies that want to have all their employees on one floor. The building also will have underground parking, a central lobby and atrium and a connection to the skywalk system, said Dave Black, CEO of Tomlinson Black Commercial, in a news release.

“This will be our 18th bank in the Inland Northwest region and will fully complement our Technology Park bank near the airport in better serving our expanded Spokane area customer base,” Bank of Whitman CEO Jim Tribbett said in a prepared statement.

Knox said the bank hasn’t decided whether it will consolidate any branches as a result of the new building. He said the downtown branch will employ 20 people, some of whom may be moved from other parts of the company.