Cowles Co. subsidiaries hope to turn two negatives into a positive in the heart of downtown Spokane. 

Windermere Lease Source Property Management has acquired the assets of Spokane-based Watson Management Company. 

Plans have been proposed for two residential care facilities to be constructed at 2600 E. Illinois, just north of Upriver Drive and the Spokane River and southwest of the Greene Street-Market Street junction.

A preapprenticeship program aimed at creating employment opportunities for those who have been incarcerated is set to graduate its 48th cohort.

The former Spokane Roofing Co. building at 130 E. Sprague is being demolished to make way for a proposed new health clinic at the site.

Artisans, which owns the space it occupies in the east half of an office building near downtown, has purchased the west half of the building to secure additional space to meet growing demand at the nonprofit employment services agency.

Mode, a new community campus in Liberty Lake is taking shape on the former grounds of the Meadowwood Technology Campus. 

For first-time homebuyers, lower interest rates will mean more affordability, but lower rates also could lead to increased competition among buyers, according to Realtor Branden Griffith.