SDS Realty Inc. owner Steve Schmautz has purchased the historic former Johnston Printing Building downtown at 159 S. McClellan and plans to redevelop the warehouse-office structure into a multitenant office building.

121 Development LLC, a company Schmautz formed, bought the property last month for $455,000, says Vic Overholser, of SDS Realty, who represented 121 Development in the transaction. Guy D. Byrd, of Cornerstone Property Advisors, represented sellers Steve and Patty Johnston, who owned the printing company.

The 11,200-square-foot building formerly housed Johnston Printing Inc. for 30 years before that business shut down in 2011. Overholser says the single-story building, constructed in 1913, sits on almost half an acre of land.

About half of the space in the building has been pre-leased to two tenants, he says, adding he anticipates the building will be leased up within six months, when improvements to the exterior and interior are completed and it's ready for occupancy. He declines to disclose the names of the signed tenants.

Remodeling work hasn't started yet, with the building's interior currently in the demolition stage, he says, adding that a design-build team has yet to be chosen.

Work on the building will include creating a main entrance on the north side of the building, which faces Pacific Avenue, and an on-site parking lot. He says that main entrance will lead into an entryway and common area, which will be accessible by three or four office suites.

"It's going to improve that corner there," he says.

Of the buildings around the former printing company, Overholser says three or four have been reworked in recent years, including the Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters corporate office located across the street at 210 W. Pacific.

He says hopefully the slated remodel of the building on McClellan "will inspire even more redevelopment in that area."

In addition to converting the building to office space, Overholser says 121 Development is also looking at changing the address from 159 S. McClellan to 121 W. Pacific, to reflect where the main entrance will face.

The former Johnston Printing Building, originally constructed for the Inland Auto Freight Co., is part of the East Downtown Historic District, a 27-square-block district comprised of mixed-use and warehouse buildings that surround or are adjacent to the Spokane Amtrak Station and rail lines. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Schmautz has redeveloped other buildings here, including the historic downtown Legion Building, which he purchased in 2002. Schmautz and his wife, Tresa also bought a former Incyte Pathology building in Spokane Valley at 11604 E. Indiana in 2005.