It's seems like Downtown Coeur d' Alene being a resort area always follows one rule of thumb,every winter a handful of shops and companies pack up and eather leave or move to spots with less expensive rent rates.But then once the weather starts to warm and signs of spring are out business start re-filling and moving to new,better storefronts.And it looks like 2012 will be no different as this Thursday March 1st we will see the opening of the newly remodeled Coeur d Alene Resort lobby area as well as the new look for Dockside Resturant,Whispers Lounge and the Resort's Lobby Starbucks location.The resort had also been working on a wedding space overlooking Lake Coeur d Alene but I cannot confirm if that part of the project is complete yet.I hope to get some pictures and updates on here and the INBW Facebook page once it's all open later this week.
But the Resort's remodel is definatly not all that's changing for Downtown Coeur d Alene as Range NW purchased the remainder of their building at 409 Coeur d Alene Ave. in January and started a new and needed venture called Space Share CDA which is Shared Office Space and has already attracted some interest as the following business are already new tenants: Element Architecture , Patano Hafermann Architects ,SavorWeb which does website design for small business and Andrea Stranger who is a graphic designer who has done some major design projects in her past. The Space Share CDA building is still looking to fill it's remaining spaces with rent starting at 250 per month.
The Wine Cellar which has been a Downtown Coeur d Alene fixture for years now is moving on up,quite litterly.The Wine Cellar's owners have aquired the full liquor licence once held by Las Palmitas Mexican Resturant on 3rd as well as the former Icon Bar's building on Sherman Ave between 3rd and 4th Street and plan to remodel the Icon and move the The Wine Cellar into the new larger space.
Another Downtown Coeur d' Alene fixture storefront for many years has been Figpickels Toy Store in the 300 block of Sherman Ave. almost directly across the street from The Wine Cellar.Rest assured that Figpickels is not closing but will be moving,The toy store will move to The Resort Plaza Shops mall just 1 block down at 201 Sherman Ave.The new Figpickels strore will be larger then their current store and will be nice for the owners as Figpickels is owned by the same owners as Mrs. Honeypeeps Sweet Shop and the neighbooring paper and gift store which are already tenants in the Resort Plaza Shops.
Also, construction has rather obviously began at 201 N 3rd St which is the former Las Palmitas Mexican Resturant.I've heard a couple of rumors on what will happen to the building but have not been able to confirm any so watch this blog for more on this when I figure it out.It appears however to be a major project.
