Three real estate projects worth perhaps as much as $20 million in all are under way or planned at Liberty Lake, all involving Spokane-based real estate company Janek Co.


According to Janek Co. President and founder Jan Ekstrom, the three projects are:


An eight-acre commercial development alongside Interstate 90 that tentatively could include a multistory office building and three upscale restaurants, with the entire project valued at $8 million to $10 million.


A high-end housing development located on 18 acres of property flanking Liberty Lake Golf Course, valued at $9 million to $10 million.


A $1.2 million office park geared toward small businesses, where Janek Co. is in the process of building a new $550,000 office for itself.


Janek Co. will market the first two projects, and is both developing and marketing the third, which will be called Fairway Office Plaza, Ekstrom says.


The first project, the office-and-restaurant site, is being developed by Spokane-based Pring Corp., a real estate investment group, she says.


Kevin McCathren, Janek Co.s commercial broker, recently handled the sale of eight acres of property at Liberty Lake by Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., of Spokane, to Pring Corp., Ekstrom says. The property is in the northwest part of Metropolitans Liberty Lake Center development, and has Interstate 90 frontage, she says.


McCathren says the project still is in the planning phase, but most likely would include a building with three or four stories of Class A office space, totaling 45,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet of floor space. In addition, the project may call for three stand-alone restaurant buildings with between 6,000 square feet and 8,000 square feet of floor space, although final decisions havent been made on what the project will include.


If the restaurant component of the project is included, it would serve as an entertainment center for Liberty Lake, Ekstrom says.


Gary Bernardo, of Spokane-based Ber-nardo-Wills Architects PC, is designing the project, Ekstrom says.


As soon as the planning is done, it will be on the road, Ekstrom says.


The second project Janek is involved with is an 18-lot planned unit development called Lakeridge Estates, she says.


Apex Development Inc., of Spokane, is heading the project as the developer, which will be built on 18 acres of land on the east end of Liberty Lake Golf Course. The homes will have access to the golf course via golf-cart paths, she says.


Each of the 18 homes will sit on lots varying in size from one-fourth acre up to one-half acre, Ekstrom says.


Homes in the development are expected to be priced at $350,000 to $700,000, and six lots already have been sold, she says.


The project is expected to receive final plat approval in October, and one builder, Thompson Homes Inc., already has applied for a permit to build a home there, Ekstrom says. Mark Construction Inc. and Eagle Mountain Corp. also will build at Lakeridge Estates, she says.


Ekstrom says the project took nearly four years to be developed.


We could have sold it out three times already if it had been ready, but we kept on getting delays, she says, noting that the property involved is a challenging site to develop because it is on a rocky hillside.


It will probably take two years to build it out, because some of the homes will be quite large, but I believe well have it sold out within a year, if not before, weve had so much interest.


Office park under construction


Janeks third Liberty Lake project, Fairway Office Plaza, already is under construction at the northwest corner of Fairway Lane and Appleway Avenue.


A group headed by McCathren broke ground last week on the first building in the development, a 4,200-square-foot structure that will house Janek Co.s Liberty Lake office. About 1,200 square feet of space in that building will be subleased to another tenant, Ekstrom says. That building is expected to be finished in January 2001.


Janek will sell the other three lots in the development, which average about one-third acre in size. Each could accommodate a 3,000- to 5,000-square-foot building, Ekstrom says.


Potential users are smaller companies that want to own their facilities rather than lease them, she says.


We tried to fit what we saw as a void in the market, which is smaller lots, she says. Most of the buildings out there are in excess of 10,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet, and that just doesnt work well (for smaller businesses).


Janeks Liberty Lake branch will be the companys fourth overall, and will have space for up to 20 real estate agents when it opens next year, she says. Janek also has offices in Spokane, Coeur dAlene, and Sandpoint.