An investment group headed by Spokane real estate executive Dave Black is buying the Spokane Business Development Center building downtown for $4 million, in a transaction that was expected to close this week.


The building, at 801 W. Riverside, houses many of Spokanes major economic-development organizations, including the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Spokane Area Economic Development Council, and the Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau.


Black says his intention is to operate (the building) as it is today, retaining the same mix of tenants, which includes a few private businesses.


The chamber is signing a 10-year lease for its offices on the ground floor of the five-story building, but Black says, My goal would be to have the chamber in the building forever.


Blacks investment group is called Riverside & Post LLC, which includes Black and some of his family members and business associates.


The chamber has owned the 41,000-square-foot building since 1997, says Rich Hadley, president of that organization. It plans to use the money from the sale to pay off the remaining debt from that purchase and doesnt expect to have extra proceeds to spend, he says.


The chambers board decided to sell the structure because, we decided owning a building wasnt the long-term mission of the chamber, Hadley says. By buying and renovating the building in the heart of downtown, the board decided we had accomplished our mission, he says. Before moving into the building, the chamber had been located on the periphery of the downtown core.