Construction activity is expected to pick up soon at the Wandermere Business Park, which a company led by Spokane contractor Dick Vandervert started developing last year.


A 20,000-square-foot office building and a Bank of Whitman branch both are planned at the 20-acre development, which thus far is home only to a branch office of Spokane-based Numerica Credit Union. A man-made lake recently was built at the park in anticipation of upcoming construction activity in the eight remaining vacant lots there. (See separate photo on page B9.) The development is located at the northwest corner of U.S. 395 and Farwell Road, across Farwell from the Wandermere West retail complex.


Vandervert Developments LLC, of Spokane, plans soon to build an office building for itself and an affiliated company, MV Investments LLC, in the park.


The two-story office building is expected to rise near the site where the planned Bank of Whitman branch is to be built, says Lowell McKee, who co-owns Wandermere Estates LLC, the Vandervert-led company that owns the business park.


Construction of the office building likely will start within a month and will take about six months to complete, McKee says. Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, will be the contractor, and Russell Page Architects, also of Spokane, designed the project, he says. McKee declines to disclose the cost of the project.


Vandervert Developments and MV Investments, which McKee and Vandervert also own, are currently located in Vandervert Constructions 10,000-square-foot office building at 608 E. Holland, McKee says. The two companies, which have a total of about 20 employees, outgrew their space there, he says.


Meanwhile, Colfax, Wash.-based Bank of Whitman bought roughly an acre of land in the park about a month ago for an undisclosed sum, says bank President and CEO James Tribbett. The bank plans to construct a roughly 5,000-square-foot branch there within a year, Tribbett says.


The branch is expected to include commercial and real estate lending services and a drive-through banking service, he says. It will have about 10 employees.


Vandervert Construction will be the contractor for that project, and Russell Page Architects is designing it, Tribbett says. The project is expected to take about six months to complete; the bank doesnt have a project cost estimate yet, he says.


The bank decided to build a branch in that area because it has financed several residential and commercial projects there and is looking to expand its presence in Spokane County, Tribbett says. Its branch in the new Bank of Whitman building downtown is expected to open by early October, he says. It also has a branch in Airway Heights and one on Holland Avenue in North Spokane.