A Spokane developer has agreed to buy the former Louisiana-Pacific Corp. mill site in Post Falls for $1.7 million, the real estate broker who is handling the planned transaction says.


The Hayden Lake-based broker, Bill Robinette, of Coeur dAlenes Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, declines to identify the developer until after the agreement is signed, but says the buyer has signed a letter of intent to buy the property and that a purchase agreement is forthcoming.


Robinette says the buyer is planning a mixed-use project for the nearly 33-acre site, which fronts on the Spokane River.


It looks like were going to have that property tied up before the end of the week, he said on Monday.


Robinette will say only that the buyer is a prominent Spokane developer with experience in developing different kinds of projects. A Louisiana-Pacific spokesman declined to comment.


Louisiana-Pacific put its former mill site up for sale in 1997 for $6.5 million, but lowered that price several times after the property failed to sell. The Portland-based wood-products company listed the property with Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller in December for $1.75 million.


The site, which until 1995 had housed a sawmill, has about 2,000 feet of river frontage, west of Spokane Street. The propertys current zoning would allow for residential, retail, or commercial use. One possible mixed-use scenario that has been discussed in the past would include residential development along the waterfront, and retail and office space along Spokane Street.


Separately, Robinette says there also is a deal in the works to sell another of Louisiana-Pacifics former mill sites, in Priest River, Idaho. A Sandpoint developerwho Robinette again declines to namehas made an offer on that 316-acre property, Robinette says.


The developer has a use in mind for a 40,000-square-foot industrial building located on the property, as well as plans for developing some of the rest of the property, Robinette says.