Mountain West Bank has acquired the former Spokesman-Review building in Coeur d'Alene and plans to relocate its headquarters there in the next couple of years, says Scott Anderson, president and CEO of Mountain West Bank.

The bank bought the four-story building, located a few blocks north of downtown Coeur d'Alene at 608 Northwest Blvd., from Cowles Real Estate Co. in a $9.5 million transaction that closed in May.

The Coeur d'Alene-based financial institution plans to relocate multiple departments and about 110 employees to work at the 30-year-old, 44,000-square-foot office building, including its business banking, residential real estate lending, administrative, and operations teams, explains Anderson.

"We were looking for an opportunity to have everybody under one roof," Anderson says. 

Currently, the regional community bank leases multiple office suites at Mountain West Plaza, at 101 W. Ironwood Drive, in Coeur d'Alene, where the bank also operates a branch at the southeast corner of the plaza. 

The bank will keep the plaza's branch operational after the move, Anderson notes.

Mountain West Bank likely will occupy the building on Northwest Boulevard in the second quarter in 2026, after current tenants' leases expire, he says. 

Customers will have access to the bank's lending departments at the new building once Mountain West Bank has settled into the space.

Remaining lease terms for tenants at the office building coincide with the lease terms that Mountain West Bank currently has for its office space at the Mountain West Plaza campus.

In the meantime, the bank will manage the four-story building while it develops plans to update the interior.

"It's been used as a multitenant property for years ... so we'll do some work to make the entire building theme consistent with Mountain West Bank," Anderson says.

Mountain West Bank has occupied office space and a branch at Mountain West Plaza since the bank was founded in the mid-1990s, but financial operations have become more efficient, and the bank no longer needs as much square footage, he says. The bank currently leases about 44,000 square feet of disjointed office space at Mountain West Plaza.

"We had been looking at alternative sites to consolidate our administration and operational functions up on the Ironwood campus ... where we lease a number of small suites," he says. "We get a lot more done with fewer people today than we did 15 or 20 years ago."

There is about 8,000 square feet of space on each of the building's four floors and on the basement level, where the building has a common area, cafeteria, a meeting room, and storage space. The property will allow the bank to grow as needs require, he says.

"The foundation of our culture is grounded in our sense of community. In this case, it's working together that helps us set each other up for success," says Anderson. "I think it's easier to do that when we get collaboration, teamwork, and communication and get those ingredients together, then we're at our best," says Anderson.

Despite economic challenges, including a higher interest rate environment, Mountain West Bank has experienced growth in the first six months of this year.

"We've seen our loan portfolio grow. Our deposit portfolio is bigger. And we feel good about what we've accomplished through the first half of 2024, but it continues to be a challenging operating environment for the financial services industry simply because of a general level of interest rates," says Anderson.

From fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023, which ended Dec. 31, Mountain West Bank's total assets have increased 4% and its total net loans and leases have grown about 6%, according to the Journal's annual Banks list published in April. 

"Idaho and the Inland Northwest have been somewhat insulated from the effects of the general economy, so we're certainly optimistic about the balance of this year and beyond into 2025," Anderson says.

Mountain West Bank remains bullish about the markets and communities in which the bank operates, he says.

Glacier Bancorp Inc., of Kalispell, Montana, is the holding company of Mountain West Bank. 

Mountain West Bank is the ninth largest bank in Spokane and Kootenai counties according to the Journal's 2024 Banks list. The bank serves customers from 21 locations in Idaho and Washington state.

Current tenants at the recently acquired property include: D.A. Davidson Cos., of Great Falls, Montana; GVH Distribution Ltd., of Lubbock, Texas; Advanced Aesthetics PLLC, a Coeur d'Alene-based medical spa; San Diego-based Guild Mortgage Co. LLC; NexTitle, a Bellevue, Washington-based title company; and Hawley Troxell Ennis & Hawley LLP, of Boise.

The Spokane-based Spokesman-Review newspaper no longer houses North Idaho operations in the building.