Real estate group buys historic 1889 Building

The oldest downtown Spokane building constructed right after the Great Fire of 1889 has changed ownership.

The historic 1889 Building, at the corner of Main Avenue and Stevens Street, has been sold for $1.02 million to Spokane real estate investment company CitiBrokers.

The group bought the property from Amron Corp., which bought it in the 1990s and later had the three-story brick building added to Spokane’s Register of Historic Places.

Amron Corp.’s investor group includes Spokane residents Mick McDowell and Shelley McDowell.

CitiBrokers’ partners are Aaron Cunningham, Landon Cunningham, John Urquhart and Nick Barnes.

CitiBrokers will renovate the building and take over the third floor, Aaron Cunningham said. The Downtown COPS Shop will continue using the second level, while Nectar Tasting Room will remain in the building’s first level. A catering business uses the basement level.

When first constructed, it was called the Soss Building and was the main structure on the Bodie Block. Its first use was as a single-occupancy hotel. Over the next six decades it was converted into several uses including a saloon, a restaurant, an apartment house and the Bootery Shoe Company. The building underwent a major renovation in 1973 and acquired the 1889 Building name.

Cunningham said CitiBrokers will move into the renovated third-floor offices in August and has begun hiring additional brokers to represent customers in the market to buy or sell residential and commercial property.