Two companies owned partly by Spokane developer Steve Schmautz plan to develop two professional buildings in the Liberty Lake area that together are expected to cost about $3.6 million.


Work is expected to get under way on both buildings by early May, Schmautz says.


One of the companies, Jackson VII LLC, which Schmautz formed with Spokane contractor Bill Lawson, plans to develop a two-story, 23,000-square-foot professional building at the northwest corner of Appleway Avenue and Discovery Lane, near a Land Rover dealership, Schmautz says. That $2.3 million building will have office space on its second level and a mix of office and retail space on the ground floor.


The building is designed to have an industrial feel to it, with exposed ventilation-duct work and high ceilings, among other features, Schmautz says.


The building is expected to be completed in late August or early September. Schmautz says Jackson VII LLC hasnt signed leases with any prospective tenants for the building yet.


The other company, SDS Properties LLC, which Schmautz owns with his wife, Tresa, plans to build a two-story, 8,000-square-foot structure across Discovery from the other planned structure. Schmautz also expects that $1.3 million project to be completed this fall.


J.E.M. Investments Inc., a Basin, Wyo.-based mortgage broker and buyer of real estate contracts that has its administrative offices here, has agreed to lease that entire structure, says John R. Harwood, the companys president and CEO. J.E.M. currently employs 12 people here and leases about 3,800 square feet of office space in a structure at 22910 E. Appleway, in the Liberty Lake area. Harwood says the companys 2-year-old mortgage operation, which currently does business in Washington, Idaho, and Montana, has grown substantially in recent months. He expects that J.E.M. will hire 20 to 25 additional people after moving into the new building.


Wolfe Ballantyne Studio Architects, of Spokane, has designed both structures, and A&A Construction Inc., which Lawson owns, will build them.


Schmautz and Lawson recently finished developing two other office buildings in the Liberty Lake area through other companies they own that have Jackson in their names.


Those projects, located along Molter Road, included a total of about 71,000 square feet of office space and had a total cost of $7.1 million.