Iron Bridge LLC, of Spokane, expects to start work next month on the first building in its 18-acre Iron Bridge Campus, an office park planned along the Spokane River east of Hamilton Street.


Kent Hull, Iron Bridges managing partner, says the parks first structure will be a two-story, 26,000-square-foot office building at the northeast corner of Trent Avenue and Perry Street. He expects that the structure will be completed next March.


The brick-veneer-and-glass structure is being built speculatively.


Hull says, however, that he is talking with prospective tenants and believes that he will have at least some of the office space leased before the building is completed.


He says the structure is designed so that it could accommodate one tenant or several tenants.


Iron Bridge initially had planned to break ground on the structure this past spring.


The company held off until now due to a slow office market, but that market appears to be picking up somewhat, Hull says.


We didnt feel like we can sit on this any longer, Hull says. If we wait another year, there could be more competition.


Divcon Inc., of Spokane, will build the structure, and Spokane architect Ron Joseph designed it.


Iron Bridge Campus is being developed on the former Layrite Products Co. site.


As currently envisioned, Iron Bridge LLC would develop six office buildings and a restaurant at the park, at a total cost of $50 million to $60 million. The first planned building likely will be the smallest of the planned structures, Hull says.


The developers have proposed that the city of Spokane develop a tax-increment financing district to pay for infrastructure improvements at the siteincluding re-decking for use as a pedestrian bridge an old, nearby iron railroad bridge after which the office park is named. Hull says he still is talking with city staff about forming a tax-increment financing district there.