Spokane-based Avista Corp. has taken the preliminary steps to begin what company officials say will result in the development of a downtown campus that will employ more than 100 workers.

The company wants to eventually build a 42,000-square-foot electrical substation and what it calls a network warehouse building, encompassing 30,000 square feet of space, on four acres of Avista-owned land at the west end of downtown, says Vance Ruppert, facilities project manager for the company.

Preliminary plans call for the new construction to occur on a vacant lot at 1804 W. Fifth.

Avista purchased the former AAA of Spokane building at nearby 1717 W. Fourth in July 2015 for about $2 million. Between 40 and 50 Avista employees currently are working on special projects in that building, says Jessie Wuerst, the company’s senior communications manager.

One of the projects occurring now at what Avista calls its Project Center, is Avista Facility Management, which entails updating software systems used in utility operations for tasks such as mobile dispatch of service personnel, outage management, and construction design, Wuerst says.

Avista submitted an application under the State Environmental Policy Act to the city of Spokane’s building services department at the end of July.

Avista hopes to begin construction of the network warehouse building in late September or early October and to have it finished by summer 2017.

“The plan is to have 15 crews located there working on our downtown grid,” Ruppert says of the warehouse, which would be the primary base of operations for linesmen assigned to maintain that grid.

“Those crews are currently located at several locations throughout downtown, and some are over at the Mission campus. By consolidating them, we can be even more efficient for our downtown customers,” Ruppert says. The Mission campus he refers to is Avista’s headquarters at 1411 E. Mission.

Ruppert says the company doesn’t have construction cost estimates as the project is still out for bid.

The company also has submitted a request to the city of Spokane seeking to vacate Oak Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues to unite 1717 W. Fourth and 1804 W. Fifth.

The majority of construction will be on the west half of the property, which is west of Oak Street.