Bakery planned next to First Avenue Coffee in downtown

A new bakery is coming to downtown Spokane, according to permits issued by the city.

First, about $250,000 in preparatory work will be done to the old Music City Building, 1011 W. First Ave, which was built in 1912. The bakery will occupy the western half of the ground floor, joining First Avenue Coffee, which opened last summer.

Workers will build a production bakery and commissary prep area, according to permits.

The building is owned by local developer Jerry Dicker, who purchased it in 2015 for $1.5 million in a sale that included a parking lot on Madison Street and the former International Order of Odd Fellows Lodge, which is also on First Avenue. He also owns the Montvale Hotel and has a minority stake in the old New Madison Hotel on the same block.

First Avenue Coffee is owned by Dicker and Deb Di Bernardo, who also owns Spokane’s Roast House Coffee.

The bakery development falls in line with recent plans by Dicker to improve the West First block. The former Odd Fellows Building has been remade into the Montvale Event Center, and Dicker floated plans in 2017 to build a six-story parking garage on Madison.

With his wife, Patty, Dicker owns many buildings close to the forthcoming bakery: Bing Crosby Theater, Hotel Ruby and the building occupied by Incrediburger & Eggs.

Mauer Construction, of Spokane, is the contractor for the bakery project. The architect is Uptic Studios, also of Spokane.