Fomer Met affiliate to return

A former Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co. affiliate is moving back downtown, but its employees will share a building with a tenant that is as different as night and day.

Western United Life Assurance Co. will occupy more than 21,000-square feet of space at Monroe Street and Sprague Avenue during the workday, while The Big Easy Concert House hosts a revolving assortment of bands at night.

Construction workers are building offices and conference space that spans two sides of the building separated by a New Orleans-themed walkway, a product of the Big Easy. The layout wraps around the concert hall.

“We’ve completely renovated the old (interior). We basically gutted it,” said Dave Macdonald of Macdonald Construction Inc. of Spokane, the project contractor.

The move brings Western United full circle in a sense, back to a location that once housed Met Mortgage. Metropolitan went bankrupt, three years ago, and the state insurance commissioner took control of Western United to protect policyholders. The company sells annuities and was considered a key asset in the bankruptcy.

Messages left for several Western United managers were unreturned. However, Bill Ripple, public affairs officer for the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, said Western United’s entire 77-person staff is moving from an office on Sullivan Road in Spokane Valley to downtown.

The insurance company owns a good chunk of the block, with the exception of the Bing Crosby Theater, he said.

The renovation includes the area formerly occupied by the Marilyn’s on Monroe card room. Macdonald said crews have been working since May to create new offices, conference rooms, computer storage and an employee lunchroom that are now nearing completion.

The site formerly occupied by Rock Coffee, which closed last summer, was walled off and made into rooms that hold mechanical equipment.