Jackson Five LLC, a company established by Spokane businessmen Steve Schmautz and Bill Lawson, has bought just over five acres of land at Liberty Lake Center and plans to construct two office buildings there worth a combined $6 million.


The proposed project is the latest of several to be announced or landed in the 99-acre business park, which is being developed by Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., of Spokane.


RnR RV Center and Foretravel Inc. have begun construction of separate, multimillion-dollar recreational-vehicle dealerships there. Also, a 12,000-square-foot retail center is proposed near there (see story, page 8).


The land acquired by Jackson Five is located at the northeast corner of Molter Road and Appleway Avenue and extends north along Molter to Knox Avenue.


Schmautz says design work is being completed on the first of the two planned new buildings, which will be a two-story, 25,000-square-foot office-warehouse structure, and Jackson Five expects to seek a building permit for that project soon. The company hopes to break ground on the building early next year and complete it next summer, but the timing of the project hinges on the weather and the length of the permitting process, Schmautz says.


Work on the second structure, a three-story, 31,000-square-foot office building, is expected to start about two months after crews break ground on the first building. Schmautz says the second building is expected to be completed by early fall.


The first building, which will cost about $2.5 million to build, will be in the center of the five-acre site and accessible from Molter. The $3.5 million second structure will be at the southeast corner of Knox and Molter, to the north of the first building.


Schmautz says 1.5 acres will be left vacant for future development.


The first building is designed to be what Schmautz calls a flex-office building, meaning that it will be built to accommodate flexible amounts of space for office or warehouse uses. It will be similar to, but bigger than, an office-warehouse building Schmautz developed at Liberty Lake earlier this year as part of a separate venture. That 17,000-square-foot structure is located at 22910 E. Appleway, west of the recently acquired land.


Schmautz and Lawson havent inked tenants for either of the planned new buildings yet, but Schmautz says he expects both structures will house multiple tenants.


SDS Realty Inc., a Spokane commercial and industrial real estate brokerage that Schmautz owns, will market the space in the new structure, Schmautz says. Lawson owns A&A Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane, which has been involved in several projects in the Spokane Valley.


Summit Property Development manages Metropolitans commercial real estate portfolio, including Liberty Lake Center, and Schmautz says he worked with Russ Johnson, of Summit, on Jackson Fives acquisition of the five acres.