In West Spokane / West Plains two of Spokane's larger locally based companies are playing a bit of office switch a roo. One company is moving on up to much larger offices and another in downsizing, moving to Downtown Spokane but still remaining a piece of the Greater Spokane economy.
The two company's I'm referring to are People to People / Ambassadors Group and Northwest Farm Credit. Here is the scoop on these new office moves...
Ambassadors Group / People to People , relocating to Downtown Spokane.
People to People, a division of Ambassadors Group which runs educational / student trips all around the world has had some struggles in recent years. Lay offs have been known to occur at the Ambassadors Group HQ nearby the Spokane International Airport. In fact, when the company comes Downtown it will only employ about 100, down from more then double that at one time.
But People to People is hoping to get a fresh new start by leasing new offices in the historic Holley Mason Building at 157 S. Howard . The company will occupy offices in the sixth floor ( suite 601 ) of the building which is also home to the large West Corporation call center which already employ's in the hundreds.
People to People will be moving to this space from the HQ building of Ambassadors Group which is on the West Plains at 2001 S. Flint Rd.
For more information on People to People visit-
www.peopletopeople.com
Northwest Farm Credit to Ambassadors Group HQ
A big part of the reasoning behind the People to People move is the sale of their large office building on S. Flint Rd. not far south of US Route 2. The building had been on the market for about two years before the sale late last year. Although, the sale did not fetch the full asking price for the building it does mean new life there.
Northwest Farm Credit, who is also headquartered on the western side of the metro area purchased the building with hopes of soon relocating their corporate operations there. The building marks a significant increase in office space for Northwest Farm Credit as the building offers 133,000 square feet and 11 acres of land. Currently the company uses around 60,000 square feet of space.In addition, Northwest Farm Credit will own the building as opposed to the lease situation at their current HQ.
No word on exactly when the move into the new building will occur for the company which is a financial services co-op catering to the agri , farming and ranching community.
For more information on Northwest Farm Credit visit-
www.northwestfcs.com
Northwest Farm Credit leaves large office opening in West Spokane
While office vacancies are not ideal in the real estate market, it should also be noted that they do also open up space for new companies looking to come to the area and local start ups that are on the rise, of which Spokane has several.
One such large office space vacancy will soon be the former Northwest Farm Credit HQ in the Sunset Pointe Corporate Business Park. The center which is managed by Spokane's Arger Co. Commercial Real Estate now has 61,400 square feet of rentable space available with 29,000 square feet being the smallest leasable space.
There are no known tenants moving in yet as Northwest Farm Credit isn't actually out of the building just yet. The space is modern class A office space with 3 stories, plenty of on site free parking. And a parcel to the west that is considered phase II and is vacant land that is also available via sale.
For more information on Sunset Pointe Business Park visit-
www.argerco.com
