Schmidt Development LLC, of Spokane, has proposed building a $1.1 million office building on the periphery of downtown Spokane.


As envisioned, the two-story, 10,000-square-foot building would be constructed on a vacant site at 1807 W. Fifth, which is two blocks west of the Interstate 90-Maple Street interchange and is visible from I-90. The site is three-quarters of an acre.


Perry Schmidt, managing partner of Schmidt Development, says he wont move forward with construction of the building until after prospective tenants agree to lease at least 50 percent of the planned floor space.


Vic Overholser, a commercial real estate agent with SDS Realty Inc., of Spokane, began marketing the proposed project earlier this month. No prospective tenants have agreed to lease space yet, Overholser says.


Construction of the building is expected to take about four months, Schmidt says.


Schmidt Contractors, a Spokane construction company that Schmidt owns, will be the general contractor on the project. A Missoula, Mont., architectural firm is designing the building.


Schmidt says the planned building, which hasnt been named yet, would be the first structure that he has been involved in developing, rather than building.


Schmidt Contractors has been in business since 1994 and has been the general contractor on a number of office and commercial construction projects, Schmidt says.


It recently completed a 3,600-square-foot expansion at Owl Pharmacy, in Medical Lake, he says. In 2000, it renovated the former Saks restaurant, at the southeast corner of Sprague Avenue and Sullivan Road in the Spokane Valley, for an AmericanWest Bank branch, he says.