Berg Cos., a longtime Spokane Valley-based manufacturing concern, has started a $1.2 million renovation of a large building at 6811 E. Mission and plans to consolidate its operations there, says Julie Tilleman, a Berg spokeswoman.

CDA Loon LLC, a Spokane Valley-based affiliate, bought the 124,800-square-foot former Caterpillar distribution building there in September for $2.7 million.

“Our company is moving into that building and out of rented facilities in the Valley,” Tilleman says.

Renovations at the building on Mission Avenue will include constructing office space, replacing the electrical system, and installing energy-efficient lighting, she says.

 “Generally, it was a warehouse. It’s pretty wide open,” Tilleman says. “We’re converting it into a manufacturing facility so we can do all of our manufacturing under one roof.”

Granite Petroleum LLC, of Spokane, is the contractor and design lead on the project.

Berg has more than 200 employees, up from a low of 70 employees a few years ago, Tilleman says.

The company currently is based in smaller quarters at 16124 E. Euclid, in the Spokane Business & Industrial Park, with some operations in two other buildings in the park.

Berg’s roots here go back to 1883, when it was a tent maker. Today, the company manufactures remote camp shelters and support equipment mostly for military and government uses. 

“Production has ramped up in the last few years, and we’ve outgrown our current facilities,” Tilleman says.

Berg plans to have all operations at the Mission facility by March, she says.

Commercial real estate agents James S. Black III, Darren Slackman, and Earl Engle, all of the Spokane brokerage NAI Black, handled the Mission Avenue building transaction.

Illinois-based Caterpillar Logistics Inc. opened a 562,000-square-foot distribution center on the West Plains in 2012, and its Spokane-area operations now are based there.