Muneris Inc., a small Spokane Valley-based general contractor specializing in modular home construction, is the contractor for an upcoming project to create four townhome-style living units for the Anna Schindler Foundation, a nonprofit organization here.  

Mike Gahvarehchee co-owner and sole employee of Muneris, says the two-phase project will include building two townhome structures. 

The buildings each will include two single-family townhomes, each with about 2,000 square feet of floor space, on two lots at 28th Avenue and Stone Street. 

The lots are owned by the foundation, which helps to raise cancer awareness and supports families fighting childhood cancer in the Inland Northwest. 

Polly Schindler, co-founder of the nonprofit, says the buildings will serve as temporary homes near Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital for families that are in need of such housing during a child’s cancer treatments. 

Schindler and her husband, Joe, started the foundation in 2011, a year after losing their daughter Anna to liver cancer. Joe Schindler is a captain with the Spokane Fire Department, and Polly Schindler is a stay-at-home mother to the couple’s remaining seven children.

She says the foundation supports patients’ families by providing meal cards, and helping to defray travel, grocery, medical, living and even burial expenses incurred because of a sick child. 

“When we were at the hospital, we met many families from out of town that needed to stay here anywhere from one to six weeks for their child’s treatment needs,” says Schindler. 

“While there are some additional housing options for those families, we saw the need for more. That led us to the idea for Anna’s Homes,” she says.

Gahvarehchee says construction on the project likely will begin in May, and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. While he doesn’t yet have a total cost projection for the project, he says each phase is expected to cost $450,000 to $500,000. 

Although the foundation already has enough financing in place to break ground on the project, Schindler says an additional fundraiser is planned for May 13, at the Spokane Convention Center, to help further offset construction costs. 

She says the foundation chose the South Hill location for this project, because of its proximity to hospital care. 

“When your child develops a fever or other complications, it’s better to be able to get to the hospital quickly,” she says. 

Hayden-based home design firm James Tibbs Home Works designed the townhomes, Schindler says.

Once the homes are completed, Schindler says the foundation will rely on social workers from Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital to help place families in them. 

“Families will apply, go through background check and other housing forms,” she says. 

“Insurance will often cover some housing costs for these families, but we won’t refuse them housing just because they can’t pay. There will be a fund set up to help those families struggling to cover lodging.”

Gahvarehchee and two business partners founded Muneris in May of 2014, and the company currently operates out of a 3,000-square-foot space in Lake Industrial Park, at 1026 N. Lake Road, in Spokane Valley. 

Gahvarehchee says this year the company plans to move into a larger factory facility, possibly acquiring more machinery, and hiring additional employees. 

He says the company is putting the finishing touches on its Rockwood Townhomes project, at 308 E. 10th, which should be fully completed this spring.

Although con-struction on the $2 million, multifamily complex began in May of 2015, it has seen some delays, due to a shortage of skilled construction laborers in the area, he contends. 

As the Journal reported earlier, the project includes five flat roof, Mediterranean-style units, ranging in size from 1,600 to 2,000 square feet of living space, and with either two or three bedrooms. 

The homes are being marketed for sale at about $285 to $300 a square foot, placing them in the $430,000 to $600,000 range. 

Gahvarehchee has been working with architect Tony Janson, of Spokane-based architectural and engineering firm Womer & Associates Inc., on that project.