Week in review
TUESDAY
A Northwest investment partnership has purchased the historic downtown Spokane building that houses the U.S. Bank branch. Mara Gateway of Bainbridge Island purchased the building for $17.6 million.
EcoAnalysts, a Moscow, Idaho, firm, recently won federal contracts worth up to $1 million to test aquatic plant and animal samples as part of a nationwide lake survey. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contracts are the largest ever for the 12-year-old firm.
WEDNESDAY
Spokane-based Columbia Paint and Coatings Co. is slated to become a subsidiary of the nation’s largest paint maker, The Sherwin-Williams Co., following a planned merger. No large-scale changes are planned and Columbia, which has 41 stores in eight Western states, will retain its store name, Sherwin-Williams officials said.
Construction of several new buildings, offering 36,000 square feet of office space, is underway at Pinecroft Business Park in Spokane Valley as the 10-building park continues to expand. An additional 60,000-square-foot office building is planned approximately within the next year, Pinecroft officials said.
THURSDAY
Homeowners have little recourse in Idaho and Washington when their builder runs into financial troubles, leaving them with an unfinished project or unpaid subcontractors. The bankruptcy of one Post Falls builder has renewed calls among Idaho legislators for tougher standards for contractors.
FRIDAY
A Yoke’s supermarket in northwest Spokane will close soon and employees will be transferred to other stores. Because the River Ridge Yoke’s, at Wellesley Avenue and Assembly Street, was smaller than average, it was never profitable, Yoke’s officials said. That location has housed a supermarket, under shifting owners, for more than 50 years. The future use of the site is not clear.
A national employee benefits company, Zenith Administrators Inc. of Chicago, has purchased Administration Services Inc. of Spokane, which offers similar services. Zenith plans to merge its Spokane office with ASI, Zenith officials said.