A group of investors affiliated with the Moloney+ONeill insurance brokerage here has bought a stake in the Lincoln Building downtown, and the brokerage plans to start moving its operations there next year.


The investors, through a Spokane company called M+O Lincoln Plaza LLC, bought for an undisclosed sum half of Lincoln Plaza LLC last month. The latter company, owned by Spokane real estate broker and developer Tom Barbieri, bought the Lincoln Building and nearby Grant Building, located on Riverside Avenue between Lincoln Street and Post Street, from Red Lion Hotels Corp. a few months ago.


Moloney+ONeill plans to occupy about 25,000 square feet of space on three floors of the eight-story Lincoln Building, says Dave Werme, COO of the insurance brokerage and managing partner of M+O Lincoln Plaza. The insurance brokerage, which employs about 100 people, expects to start moving there this spring and complete the move by the spring of 2009, Werme says.


Moloney+ONeill currently is located in a 20,000-square-foot building at 1206 N. Lincoln, a few blocks north of downtown.


Associated Industries of the Inland Northwest bought that structure from Moloney+ONeill this spring, and the company subsequently signed a 30-month lease, which is partly why its moving downtown in stages, Werme says. The brokerage also has offices in Coeur dAlene and Boise.


Were completely out of space in our current building, Werme says. Were so excited about the progress and development downtown, that we wanted to be part of it.


Meanwhile, Goodale & Barbieri Co., which is the development and management agent for Lincoln Plaza, plans to move by November into about 6,000 square feet of space in the Lincoln Building, says Tom Barbieri, its president. That company, which employs about 30 people, currently is located in Red Lion Hotels Corp.s headquarters building, at 201 W. North River Drive.


Also, the Associated Press recently leased about 7,000 square feet of space in the Lincoln Building, and has moved its regional office and a data coordination center there, Barbieri says.


Lincoln Plaza recently underwent a renovation, and tenant improvements are being done as leases are signed, he says. The building will be more than 90 percent occupied after Goodale & Barbieri and Moloney+ONeill move there.


Its an area that is continuing to grow and this fills what has been an underutilized portion of downtown, Barbieri says.


Contact Emily Proffitt at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyp@spokanejournal.com.