Spokane Transit Authority is moving forward with plans to remodel a building near its main complex that it bought in the spring of 2012, and it expects to occupy the building by mid-2014, says STA spokeswoman Molly Myers.

STA wants to relocate some of its administrative offices and maintenance operations to the two-story, 6,400-square-foot building at 1212 W. Sharp to ease overcrowding at two nearby facilities, she says. The transit agency also plans to use part of the property for storage, including for some STA vehicles and maintenance trucks, Myers says.

The building sits on a roughly one-acre site, just north of STA's headquarters at 1230 W. Boone.

Pre-development documents submitted to the city estimate the remodel will cost about $1 million. However, Myers says STA has scaled back its plans since it submitted those documents to the city, and the cost of the project will be less than the original estimate.

Spokane-based Coffman Engineers Inc. is designing for the remodel, Myers says, and a contractor hasn't been selected yet.

STA bought the building in April 2012 from Spokane Valley-based McMain Office Parks LLC for $853,000, she says. The building previously was occupied by a family therapy company, Empowering Inc. Services, now at 1025 W. Indiana.