The Sherwood Apartments building, at the southwest corner of Main Avenue and Bernard Street, soon will be undergoing renovations to update both its commercial and apartment spaces.  

Located at 301 W. Main, the 28,000-square-foot building includes a ground floor with two storefront spaces facing Main, and three upper floors consisting of 33 apartment rental units. 

Spokane developer and real estate broker Dave Black, of NAI Black, purchased the building last summer for about $1.5 million, and now is renovating it. 

NAI broker Bryan Walker, who serves as project manager for the location, says upper-floor apartment renovations began six months ago. These include adding new flooring, paint and cabinets to each unit as they become vacant.  

“We’ve completed about half of the units so far, and as people vacate, we’ll complete the rest,” he says. While he says a final total cost of the remodel hasn’t been determined yet, Walker estimates the apartment unit upgrades average about $10,000 per unit. 

“Some may run higher or lower, depending on the work needed and the size of each,” he says. 

The building includes studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments, which Walker says will be marketed toward young professionals who desire downtown housing that’s near employers and Spokane Transit Authority bus lines.

“The building currently houses a variety of income groups. Rates will vary, but we’d like to keep the units affordable,” he says. “Depending on turnover, we could have the unit renovations completed in about a year.”

Walker says the building’s ground floor is home to the Suki Yaki Inn restaurant, which faces Bernard. The restaurant will remain open for business while the remainder of the building is renovated. 

Meanwhile, Walker says NAI Black is in talks with a tenant to fill the building’s other two ground-floor commercial spaces, which he says total about 2,300 square feet of space.  

“We currently have a potential tenant who is interested in using both spaces. We would likely have a deal finalized with that tenant sometime later this summer,” he says. 

The potential commercial tenant is a combined coffee shop and bakery that hopes to install sliding garage doors at the front of the space to create an outdoor patio option, he adds. 

Walker says depending on the commercial tenant’s needs, remodeling also might include changing the elevation of the building’s main floor. 

“This is an old building that’s been neglected over the years, and will really benefit from this transformation,” he says. “It should turn out really nice.”