Gary Bernardo says he and Bob Wills, majority owners of Bernardo Wills Architects PC, of Spokane, have bought a half-acre parcel of land downtown with two buildings on it and plan to move the prominent Spokane design firm there early next year following a $1.5 million construction project the firm started recently.

The project involves demolishing the fire-damaged, 5,000-square-foot former Pella Corp. window warehouse on the parcel at 153 S. Jefferson, and renovating the adjacent Bissinger Building, at the same address, which has a total of 18,600 square feet of floor space on three floors, including a basement level, Bernardo says. The project will include a 4,000-square-foot addition to the ground and upper floors of the Bissinger Building, he says.

Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project, and Bernardo Wills designed it.

The project will update the building's brick-and-stone exterior, and the developers are aiming for a resource-conservation certification of gold under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system.

"It will be a historical adaptation of the 1920s warehouse building," Bernardo says. "We're trying to be respectful of the character of the neighborhood."

The Bissinger project will include a makeover of the west side of the building, including creating a new entrance and an 800-square-foot outdoor plaza, and making a number of interior improvements.

Bernardo Wills will occupy the upper floor and a portion of the ground floor, or a total of about 11,400 square feet, Bernardo says.

The owners plan to lease out about 5,000 square feet of space on the ground floor, he says.

The firm currently occupies 6,500 square feet of leased space on the fourth floor of the James S. Black Building, at 107 S. Howard, and has been located there since the two men founded it in 1991.

Bernard Wills specializes in designing commercial structures, educational facilities, and public-works projects. Projects designed by the firm and currently under construction include the $3.5 million 29th & Martin Professional Building, on the South Hill; a $2.2 million medical office building in Deer Park; and a $1.8 million Walgreens pharmacy and retail outlet, in Hayden, Idaho.

The firm has a staff of about 24, including 10 architects, Bernardo says. No immediate staff additions are planned with the move, he says.

"We're expanding now because we have too many people for the space we're in," Bernardo says.

Bernardo and Wills bought the Bissinger Building last month for an undisclosed sum from Gerald Mauer, who once operated a camera shop in the building, he says. The structure is named for Bissinger Fur & Hide, which was the original occupant of the building, Bernardo says.

Kevin Edwards, of NAI Black, handled the purchase of the building and likely will be the leasing agent for the rentable space, Bernardo says.