A Spokane-based concern called Sigma Partnership plans to develop a complex of two medical, dental, and professional office buildings at Liberty Lake at the northwest corner of Mission Avenue and Molter Road.


The project, which is expected to cost about $2.5 million, is the fourth medical-related project announced for the Liberty Lake area this year. Developers and health-care administrators have said that rapid residential growth along the Interstate-90 corridor between Spokane and Coeur dAlene has created a need for nearby medical services.


Joining the effort to meet that perceived need, Sigma plans a pair of two-story buildings that will include a total of 18,000 square feet of floor space. The partnership has awarded Paras General Contractors Inc., also of Spokane, a nearly $1 million contract for the first phase of work at the planned complex.


That work will include the construction of one of the buildings and improvements to the nearly two-acre development site, says Jim Paras, general manager of Paras General Contractors.


Construction of the first building, which will include 10,000 square feet of space, is expected to begin Oct. 1, and should be done within six months, he says.


Paras says the companys contract is only for construction of the shell of the building, and doesnt include tenant improvements. The second building, with 8,000 square feet of space, is to be built later. Both buildings will be steel and masonry structures.


Russ Wolfe of Spokanes Wolfe Ballantyne Studio Architects, is designing the project now.


Interest in the project already is very strong, says Tomlinson Black Souths David Hicks, who is the leasing agent for the complex.


He expects the first building to accommodate three to five offices, depending on the tenants space needs. One tenant has committed to lease nearly half of the buildings second floor, Hicks says, adding that he has scheduled meetings with two other potential tenants who also are interested in space at the complex.


Other developers who plan medical facility projects at Liberty Lake include Stewart Construction Co., of Coeur dAlene, Liberty Eagle LLC, a Spokane developer, and investor group that includes Jack Riggs, a Coeur dAlene physician.


Stewart plans to develop a $2.5 million, 20,000-square-foot medical facility at the northwest corner of Mission Avenue and Harvard Road. Liberty Eagle plans to build a complex south of Country Vista Drive that will start with a 21,600-square-foot building and may include an additional similarly sized building later. The Riggs group has plans to build a 39,000-square-foot facility at the northwest corner of Appleway Avenue and Molter Road.