A real estate subsidiary of Cowles Co., of Spokane, plans to convert four floors of the Chronicle Building at 926 W. Sprague downtown into apartments and hopes to have them all completed and ready for occupancy by February.

Doug Yost, director of real estate investments for Centennial Real Estate Investments, a Cowles affiliate, says the project will include creating eight living units per floor on the third through sixth floors in the seven-story structure. He declines to say how much the conversion project is expected to cost.

Five of the apartments on each floor will be one-bedroom, one-bathroom units, and the other three will have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, Yost says. The apartments will range in size from 700 to 1,200 square feet of space, he says.

MMEC Architecture & Interiors, of Spokane, is the architect on the project, and Walker Construction Inc., also of Spokane, will be the contractor. Cowles Real Estate Co. owns the Chronicle Building, and Yost says Centennial Real Estate Investments will provide property management services for the new apartments.

Preliminary demolition work will occur over the next couple of weeks, with construction expected to get fully under way by July 1, he says, adding that some living units should be finished by January. As part of the project, The Spokesman-Review lobby that connects to the Chronicle Building also will be remodeled, he says.

Of the apartments, which will be located near the center of a resurgent arts and entertainment area on the west side of downtown, Yost says he thinks they “will definitely appeal to retired or downtown working couples and also single people of any age group.”

Rental rates for the apartments haven’t been set yet, but “will be in line with what’s already available downtown for relatively new product,” he says.

Of what led to the decision to convert space in the Chronicle Building to apartments, Yost says demand is strong for more residential units downtown, while there seems to be an adequate supply of office space.

“It made a lot of sense once we laid out the units. The building lent itself really well for being converted to residential,” he says.

Although the building has a lot of historic design features, “the inside is going to have a modern feel to it,” he says. Also, he says, “We will open the seventh floor so there will be rooftop access (for residential tenants).”

The floors that will be converted for residential use are mostly vacant. The Rypien Foundation, which occupies space on the fifth floor, will be relocating, and a law firm that occupies space on the sixth floor also will move, Yost says.

Mining company Gold Reserve Inc. is the main tenant on the building’s second floor. Nodland Cellars opened a tasting room earlier this year on the main floor, and its space includes outside seating in an adjoining, recently updated courtyard. 

Tamarack Public House, a restaurant and bar on the other side of the courtyard at 912 W. Sprague, also offers outdoor seating in the courtyard, which now includes a formal entry sign, fire pit, water feature, pergola, and trellis work and landscaping. Yost says the courtyard provides an attractive amenity for potential residential unit renters in the Chronicle Building.

Cowles Co. owns The Spokesman-Review, the Journal of Business, and the downtown River Park Square shopping mall, among other properties. It also formerly owned the afternoon Spokane Daily Chronicle, which occupied the Chronicle Building for decades until it was absorbed by The Spokesman-Review and ceased publishing in 1992. 

Known partly for the gargoyles designed as printer’s devils that look down from along its roofline, the 57,400-square-foot Chronicle Building was completed in 1928 and since then has served mostly as an office structure. 

A vacant 3,200-square-foot space on the building’s main floor, across an interior entryway from Nodland Cellars, currently is being used as an event center that can be rented out, but Yost says Centennial might seek to attract a restaurant tenant there.