The city of Spokane recently approved a conditional use permit for Spokane-based State Farm Insurance agent Jack Praxel to convert a single-family home into an office for his agency on Spokane's South Hill.

Praxel plans to move his office to the building, located at 1507 S. Grand, from its current leased location in a retail center farther south, at 2922 S. Grand.

The building is located next to an office building that houses a real estate office and other businesses near 14th Avenue and Grand. Praxel says he looked for a structure to buy along Grand for a number of years before the house came on the market last year.

Praxel says the structure doesn't need much alteration to be an ideal office for himself and his three employees, all of whom are licensed insurance agents. He plans to keep the building looking like a house, with the exception of adding a couple of parking spots in the front. Praxel doesn't plan to add more staff members when he moves, but adds that the 1,100-square-foot house will have enough space for possible future expansion of the business.

Praxel has hired private contractors to do much of the work on the project, but says it's not clear yet how much the project will cost. Blue Hills Ventures LLC, of Spokane, is doing the interior design on the project, and Dwight Hume has been Praxel's consultant on the project, he says. Local contractor Tim Barz is overseeing the remodeling work, he says. Praxel says he hopes to move into the new location by October or November.