Merrill Gardens LLC, a Seattle-based retirement-center owner and operator, has agreed to buy the Academy Retirement Community here.


The company is buying the 99-unit North Side retirement center from The Academy LP, a partnership headed up by Spokane developer Harry Green. The transaction is expected to be completed Dec. 31.


The retirement center is located at 1216 N. Superior, next to Mission Park, and includes 75 independent-living units and 24 assisted-living units.


Steve Delmore, Merrill Gardens executive vice president, says the Academy will be the companys first retirement center here. It has eyed the Spokane market for about five years, he says. Merrill Gardens operates 60 retirement centers in 14 states. Of those, 11 are in Washington.


Merrill Gardens plans to keep the Academy name and retain its 40 employees.


Delmore says the transaction will include four acres of undeveloped land next to the Academy, and that the Seattle company might later build additional assisted-living apartments or independent-living cottages on that land. Such an expansion likely wouldnt occur for another three to five years, he says.


The building that houses the Academy was built in 1890 as the Holy Names Academy private school. In 1988, Academy LP bought the long-vacated structure and renovated it into a retirement center.