Spokane business owners Bill and Jane Sauther have bought an office building in Liberty Lake for $1.2 million and plan to move their advertising-production company there.


Their company, Sauther & Associates Inc., does business as Banner Advertising and designs newspaper advertising inserts for furniture and carpet retailers throughout the U.S. and Canada.


The two-story Liberty Lake building, which is located at the northeast corner of Swing Lane and Appleway Avenue, includes 10,800 square feet of floor space.


Jane Sauther says Banner Advertising plans to move there in early March. The company currently leases 6,500 square feet of office space at 8817 E. Mission.


SDS Liberty Lake I LLC, a company headed by Spokane developer Steve Schmautz, built the office building in 2001. Before construction of the building started, J.E.M. Investments Inc., a mortgage broker here, agreed to lease the entire building. J.E.M. went out of business, however, before the building was completed, and the structure has sat vacant ever since, Schmautz says. He says he had been looking for a tenant that would take the entire building when the Sauthers came forward with an interest in buying the structure.


Banner Advertising currently em-ploys 22 people.


Schmautz and Jeff McGougan, of Tomlinson Black Commercial Inc., handled the transaction involving the Liberty Lake office building.