Three Coeur dAlene developers plan to build a seven-story condominium-office building in the heart of downtown Coeur dAlene later this year.


Construction of the 40,000-square-foot structure at 609 Sherman Ave., just northeast of the former City Hall building, is expected to start in June and be completed in the summer of 2006, says Mike Patano, an architect, who is developing the project with Mike Dodge, a North Idaho contractor, and Dean Ledger, a Coeur dAlene investor.


The building is expected to include eight luxury condominium units, two penthouse suites, and two floors for office space. The project also calls for a 12-space parking garage on the ground floor, Patano says.


There is a need for living space in downtown Coeur dAlene, Patano claims. We have quite a list of people who are interested in it.


Patano declines to say what the living units will be priced at other than that they will be at the high end of the market. No tenants had committed to leasing office space in the building as of last week, but the developers hope to secure lease agreements before construction begins.


The condo units each will have about 2,200 square feet of floor space, and the penthouse suites will have about 3,200 square feet of floor space, Patano says.


The interior of these units will have brick walls and timber ceilings to reflect the spirit of loft living, he says.


Patano declines to disclose cost estimates for the project. Patano Architects LLC, of Coeur dAlene, designed the structure, and Dodges company, Dodge Construction Inc., of Coeur dAlene, will erect the building.


The project calls for an older building on the site to be demolished. It currently houses one tenant, Pre-Press Color Inc., a Coeur dAlene printing business. Patano says that the building is about 70 years old.


The proposed condo-office building is one of at least three new buildings slated to be built in the downtown area over the next year.


In one of those projects, Miller Stauffer Architects PA, a Coeur dAlene firm, plans to develop a commercial-residential building at Seventh and Front streets. Details of that project still are being hashed out, but it could get under way shortly.


In the other project, the city of Coeur dAlene plans to build a $6.6 million library near City Hall. Construction on that project could start this fall or in early 2006. The proposed library is expected to have about 40,000 square feet of floor space. Its currently located at 201 E. Harrison.