Seattle-based nonprofit Pioneer Human Services says it has bought the Carlyle Care Center downtown from the city of Spokane for $3.2 million and plans to add four living units to the building that provides housing for low-income, mentally ill residents.

The Spokane City Council approved the sale last month, with the condition that it continues to house low-income residents.

"That's fine with us," Marla Gese, Pioneer's vice president of real estate, says of the restriction. "That's what we do."

The Carlyle center provides assisted-living services chiefly for low-income residents with mental illness.

"We will be adding (military) veteran residents to the Carlyle," Gese says.

Pioneer recently was awarded a federal contract that funds housing services for 10 veterans, she says. The contract will target homeless veterans and veterans waiting for the opportunity to enter a program or residential facility that can support them, she says.

The city of Spokane bought the seven-story structure, at 206 S. Post, in 2006 to halt a foreclosure action and preserve low-income housing. The city has sought a buyer to take it over since then.

Also last month, in a related action, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission approved $3.72 million in bond funding to enable Pioneer to refinance a conventional loan on the Carlyle property and to pay for the planned improvements there.

Pioneer plans to renovate vacant ground-floor commercial space, converting it to new residential units that will be similar to its current residential units. The new units will add seven or eight more beds to the facility, Gese says.

The Carlyle Care Center currently has 72 units and is licensed to serve 139 people, she says.

"We'll also try to provide a covered smoking area that will be less visible from the street," Gese says.

Bernardo Wills Architects PC, of Spokane, designed the project. Pioneer hasn't selected a contractor or applied for a building permit for the project yet, Gese says.

"We're still finalizing plans," she says. "We need to work with the health department to make sure we meet appropriate requirements with the design."

Gese says Pioneer Human Services hopes to complete the project by the end of July.

In the Spokane area, Pioneer owns and operates Pioneer Victory House, a 36-bed, transitional housing facility for veterans, at 925 W. Broadway, and Pioneer Pathway House, which provides 39 units of low-income, permanent housing, at 222 S. Howard. The nonprofit also owns and operates Pioneer Center East, a 48-bed facility that provides treatment for chronic chemically dependent residents.

In addition, Pioneer operates two state-owned work-release facilities here: the 55-bed Eleanor Chase House for women leaving prison, at 427 W. Seventh, and the 80-bed Brownstone for adult males, at 223 S. Browne.