Boeing Employee Credit Union plans to open a home loan center in a single-story building it’s remodeling at 12111 E. Mission, says Bethany Hawley, spokesman for the Tukwilla, Wash-based credit union.

Hawley says BECU plans an August opening for the home loan center, which will serve as the credit union’s first mortgage-only retail facility.

Located near the southwest corner of Mission Avenue and Pines Road, about a block south of Interstate 90-Pines Road interchange, the center will occupy a 3,100-square-foot former retail space that’s being remodeled.

Hawley says the credit union has been planning the Valley home loan center since last fall. Seattle-based independent architect Jane Clark designed the home loan center, and BECU is working with Edmonds-based Wilcox Construction Inc. to complete the project.

“We started construction in March, and the building is nearly completed,” says Hawley. “The center will house local sales, fulfillment, and underwriting teams, as well as providing space for hosting local homebuying educational seminars.”

She says the center will be staffed by eight full-time employees, with Spokane-based BECU mortgage sales manager Rob Helgesen serving as the center’s main manager.

Helgesen, who was hired by BECU earlier this year, is a Spokane native with over 27 years of experience in the mortgage industry.

He says BECU’s decision to open a home loan center stems from its desire to provide members with the resources they need in Spokane’s current competitive homebuying market.

“We want to ensure that we are providing our members with the right education and resources to best prepare them for purchasing a home,” he says.

Helgesen says the home loan center will provide room for growth as the credit union continues to build its presence here.

“We’re excited about the opportunity the space provides for local BECU employees to meet directly with homebuyers and Realtors, and to expand our services and financial educational offerings to the greater Spokane-Coeur d’Alene community,” he says. “These services and offerings include things like our first-time homebuyer grant program, in-person homebuying classes, and our real estate services program that connects members with an experienced real estate agent.”

BECU has over 1 million members, 9,800 of whom reside in the Spokane area. The credit union has a total of three branches here; at 916 N. Division, just north of downtown Spokane; at 9420 N. Newport Highway, on the North Side; and at 615 N. Sullivan Road, in Spokane Valley.

As of March 31, the credit union had more than $18.6 billion in assets, up from $17.2 billion a year earlier, according to BECU’s most recently available quarterly financial statements.