Large Builders Supply & Home Center store planned on Kalispel Tribal land in Airway Heights

 The Kalispel Tribe of Indians has partnered with Builders Supply & Home Center to bring a comprehensive new hardware, construction supply, and farm & ranch retail store to Airway Heights. Construction on the new 70,000 SF store is expected to begin soon with the new store open for business before the end of 2022.

The new Builders Supply store will be located just north of the existing Kalispel Market & Chevron gas station on Hwy 2. The store will act as a cornerstone for the Tribe's envisioned retail shopping area, which consists of 40 acres, approximately half a mile south of the Northern Quest Resort & Casino. "We envision more then 200,000 SF of of retail development in that area in coming years" said Brandon Haugan executive director of real estate for Kalispel Development.

The 8.5 acre site the new store will sit on has been leased to Aman Sood, who will build and operate the new Builders Supply & Home Center. Plans for the new store include a convenient drive thru lumber yard. And, a wide selection of products in several core categories including hardware, paint, electrical, plumbing, cleaning, lawn and garden and pet supplies. Additionally, the store will include professional construction supplies, kitchen cabinets, insulation, doors and windows, outdoor power equipment and home packages. 

In addition to partnering with K-Dev. and the Kalispel Tribe, Builders Supply & Home Center has also worked locally with real estate broker Shaun Meads of Anzac Properties, Russ Wolfe of Wolfe Architectural Group for the design and Parametrix for the civil design work. This will be the third store for Builders Supply & Home Center as the Airway Heights store will join already established stores in Colville and Kettle Falls,WA.

Spokane Airport Board and King Beverage,Inc. announce completion of land sale, that will allow for a new 200,000 SF distribution center.

 The Spokane Airport Board and King Beverage,Inc. have closed on the sale of 19.977 acres of Airport land located at the Northwest corner of the Geiger Blvd & Flight Line Blvd. intersection. The sale is to allow King Beverage, a locally owned Anheuser Busch distributor, to construct a large new distribution center at the site.

The agreed upon purchase price for the land was $1,957,923 and the transaction was brokered by Cory Barbieri of Goodale & Barbieri Company.

King Beverage has served the Spokane community for 41 years and currently operates out of a smaller warehouse in Spokane Valley. A previously filed public record shows they hope to build a 204,000 SF warehouse with a 10,000 SF 2 story office building out front and surface parking for 102 vehicles and semi truck wells for deliveries. Construction is shown as starting in the Summer of 2022.

Uptic Studios of Spokane did the architectural design work and no general contractor is listed on the project as of my writing this. For more information on King Beverage visit- http://kingbeverage.com

The New 63 Social House & Eatery opening soon in former Rocky Rococo space in Downtown Spokane

 Back in August. we reported that the owners of Spokane Pizza Co. we're set to lease the now closed former Rocky Rococo Pizza space at 520 W. Main in Downtown Spokane's Bennett Block building. At that time they pointed out that they would open a new restaurant there but with a new name and branding, unlike their existing locations. 

We are now learning that the new restaurant opening there will be called The New 63 Social House & Eatery. The name plays homage to the history of the building, which once spent a number of years as a movie theater, originally as The Ritz and most recently as Cinema 63. The name will also play a part in their cocktail menu as well.

The menu will be hybrid of Asian influenced meals, such as rice bowls, noodle bowls and various appetizer options. They say they will also have some pasta offerings and a fairly robust pizza selection. Additionally, by popular demand they will be keeping the salad bar for daily lunch service.

The new 63 Social House & Eatery will be an all ages establishment, in addition to having a full liquor license. They plan to offer craft cocktails as well as bottled beer from various countries and an 8 line draft system with a selection of local/regional offerings. Several TV's will be throughout the restaurant playing sporting events and old movies ( also calling back to the buildings history ).

Currently they plan to open their new restaurant either late next month of early in 2022. Stay tuned as we hope to have updates coming.

Radio Bar opening soon on Northwest Blvd. in Spokane

We'll all soon be tuning into a new bar off of Northwest Blvd. in Spokane. Work is ongoing to open a new radio station themed bar, called Radio Bar in the former Brandywine Bar space at 2408 W. Northwest Blvd..

The new owners are husband and wife and say they immediately noticed the structure resembled and old radio station. Hence the name Radio Bar, the bar even boasts a new radio antenna on top of the structure. Inside they are installing a solid stereo system and a vintage radio that they plan to use a host stand.

Photos of radio towers, stations, etc. will be incorporated as the decor. And, they are considering a record night where guests call play the music they'd like. The Radio Bar will begin as bar primarily but they also hope to " evolve into their our limited kitchen space " as time goes on.

Stay tuned to this channel for updates on this new bar coming soon, also find them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/radiobarspokane/

Aero Center Spokane, new FBO, announced for Spokane International Airport (GEG)

 The Spokane Airport Board recently announced the ground lease and concession agreement for a new FBO ( fixed base operator ) by a Marathon FBO Partners,LLC dba Aero Center Spokane, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Florida based SAR Trilogy Management,LLC.  The new operator will construct a new facility on 1.86 acres of leased land on along W. Pilot Dr. within the business park area at Spokane International Airport.

Aero Center Spokane will be the third operation of the aforementioned SAR-T, currently they operate a location at their base airport in Lakeland,FL, will open a Aero Center in Wilmington,NC in the Spring of 2022 and plan to open here in Spokane during the Spring of 2023 after building their new facility.

Plans at the Spokane facility include a 5200 SF FBO terminal connected to a 15000 SF aircraft storage hanger and a separate 10000 SF aircraft maintenance hanger. Additionally Aero Center Spokane will lease  82488 SF of aircraft parking apron, all with a 25 year lease term.

FBO's focus on general aviation and they plan to provide a full spectrum of services- Aircraft fueling, office/hanger rentals, line services and maintenance support. In addition Aero Center Spokane says they plan to partner with local businesses to provide additional services like aircraft management and charter services, flight training, and aircraft sales. 

" Spokane's catchment area and economic activity at SIA drew us to the region. We believe Aero Center's customer-focused and full service business model will be appealing to the entire SIA aviation community " said Sanjay Aggarwal marketing director and co-founder of SAR-T .

The new Aero Center Spokane FBO is estimated to create about two dozen new jobs locally.

The Wet Whistle coming soon to Downtown Spokane

 A new way to " wet your whistle " is on it's way to a storefront in Downtown Spokane. That's because a new coffee, beer/wine and craft cocktail bar, called The Wet Whistle is coming soon.

The Wet Whistle is a new venture from owners of the Whistle Stop Coffee Shop, a coffee stand that's been in business for over 15 years in Spokane Valley. The new business will be located at 210 N. Howard, which most recently was a Indaba Coffee location that recently shut down. The new owners will re-configure the space in the coming days in hopes of opening there in December or early January.

The Wet Whistle will be open to all ages and in addition to the coffee, beer, wine and cocktails they also intend to serve local pastries, flatbreads, sandwiches,  appetizer's and some dessert options.

Follow along with their progress on their social media- https://www.facebook.com/thewetwhistle  or https://www.instagram.com/the.wet.whistle/

Tantuni Mediterranean Restaurant now open on N. Hamilton in Spokane

An exciting new restaurant has opened for business along N. Hamilton, in the Logan Neighborhood nearby Gonzaga. Tantuni Mediterranean Restaurant is that restaurant and is located at 2024 N. Hamilton and shares a building the long running business, Le's Teriyaki & Pho . 

The menu is made up of shawarma, kabab's , falafel, gyros and much more. Salads, hummus and other appetizers are also available and all look and sound delicious. The business says items are halal and made fresh. 

Carry out and indoor dining are available and a menu is posted on the restaurants Facebook page at- https://www.facebook.com/Tantuni.Restaurant0 

New business, Spokane Refillery aims to help the community reduce it's plastic footprint.

 Everyone is guilty of buying the giant size laundry detergent or cleaner, while knowing just how much plastic goes into that container. It's not wise but we as a culture are far from stopping, but one new business in Downtown Spokane is aiming to help our area reduce that huge footprint while providing more natural product alternative. 

Spokane Refillery recently leased a small 220 square foot store front on the ground floor of the Hotel Indigo building at 110 S. Madison ( the store actually faces, W. 1st Ave however ) and plans to open for business there in the coming weeks.

The refillery business concept is already popular in other parts of the country, but this will be the first one in Spokane. Customers bring in there own containers from home, they are weighed to subtract the container weight and filled with natural product dispensed at the store. Customers are also allowed to fill as much or as little product as they need and are charged accordingly. Products offered will include eco-friendly shampoos, conditioners, cleaner, soaps, personal care items and much more. 

While the new brick and mortar location is still in the works, anyone can check out the Spokane Refillery already as they set up regularly at events. Including the Beyoutiful Local Market, held every weekend through the Holiday season inside the Northtown Mall.

For more information on Spokane Refillery, follow them on social media or visit their website at- http://spokanerefillery.com

New Gelato shop, Tre Palline Gelato Napolitano coming soon to Downtown Spokane

 A new Gelato shop is coming soon to Downtown Spokane, and from what we've heard it will be a serious authentic place. Tre Palline Gelato Napolitano is planned to open around January of 2022 at the Steam Plant Square complex on Lincoln.

The new shop will be operated by Ashley and Marco Napolitano, a husband-and-wife team who are originally from Italy. Marco even has over 35 years as a gelato master chef and they plan to use authentic Italian ingredients. In fact, they say they intend to use the " the most authentic ingredients, of which Spokane has never tasted ".

Tre Palline Gelato Napolitano will serve fresh daily made gelato with over 30 flavors all 100% natural, gelato inspired pastries, coffee and gelato inspired beverages. Gelato cakes and gelato will also be made available for weddings and other events, and they say they are looking at delivery services as well.

For more info on their opening in Downtown Spokane, follow them on social media-

https://www.facebook.com/trepallinegelatonapolitano

http://www.instrgram.com/TrePallineGelatoNapolitano

Chan's Noodle House & Dumplings to open in the Flour Mill

 While new restaurant's open in the Spokane / Coeur d' Alene area all the time, a few cuisines remain are under-represented.  One of those is a more authentic Chinese noodle and dumpling spot, but that is changing.

Namgo Chan, of Spokane has filed for building permit to convert an empty space in the basement of The Flour Mill (621 W. Mallon Suite 305) into a new business that is shown on a recent business license filing as Chan's Noodle House & Dumplings. The space was last used as another Chinese eatery called Ho Ho Chicken Teriyaki, which closed.

We reached out for more info on Chan's owner, while construction delays are commonplace right now, they still hope sometime after Christmas. A beer and wine permit is pending and they plan to focus on delivery and pick up orders as the space is small, just shy of 600 square feet. 

Stay tuned here and on our social media ( @spokane_business on IG ) as we plan to watch the progress of Chan's Noodle House, coming soon to Spokane.

WSECU opens new branch in North Spokane

 WSECU 's members now have more options when it comes to finding a convenient location for banking. This is because on Nov 1st, the credit union opened their new North Spokane branch at 6301 N. Division, on the former site of Ace's Casino at the corner of Division & Francis.

"We're excited to expand and increase access to more members in the Spokane region" said Dan Thorpe, Spokane Division Branch Manager.  The new 4214 SF branch offers drive-thru service lanes, walk up and drive up 24/7 ATM's, Safe deposit boxes, coin machine, notary services and shared branching. 

The new branch will be open 9-5:30 Mon-Thurs. and is the fourth branch for WESCU in Spokane County. The credit union has a total of 22 locations branches across Washington State.  The new North Spokane location was designed by Bernardo Wills, PC and built by general contractor Yost Gallagher Construction, both of Spokane.

For more info about WSECU, visit their website at http://wsecu.org

Selkirk Pharma,Inc. expands campus near Airway Heights

 Selkirk Pharma,Inc. is currently constructing their first manufacturing facility at 9110 W. Granite Ave. near the border of Spokane / Airway Heights. The locally based, Selkirk Pharma,Inc. will manufacture ( fill and finish ) injectable drugs, including vaccines and biological therapeutics in the facility.

Site photo provided by Selkirk Pharma,Inc.

The building that is under construction as of today is only Plant 1, and will be a state-of-the-art 145,000 SF facility that is set to employ 35 when it comes online in March of 2022.

With actual production still a few months away the company is already expanding their campus and preparing for the future. The privately held company recently announced that they have executed a purchase and sale agreement to acquire 10.7 acres of land adjacent to their facility. The land acquisition expands Selkirk's campus to more then 27 acres, which will one day provide space for three stand alone factories. The company goes on to report that once at full capacity the Selkirk campus is expected to employ roughly 750 scientists, engineers and operations personal.   

Selkirk and it's partners say the have invested over $90 million and will announce additional investments to the build out the remaining campus at a later date. 

Celebrating 10 years of Inland Northwest Business Watch!!!

 I wanted to drop in briefly to say Thank You , to everyone who reads this site every time I post something. 

Thank you, to the people who check it out every so often. 

Thank you, to the people who've never been on here before but thinks it's not the worst site they've ever seen. 

Thank you to everyone who reads this site and/or follows it on social media.

My name is Matt and I recently entered the 10th year of writing this blog. I still write it by myself and I still love sharing construction and business news updates, just as much as I did on day one. But I wouldn't continue to do it if it weren't for the readers. 

In those 10 years I've broken a few stories, made a few mistakes ( luckily I have a pretty good record though ), met some amazing people. I got to write a short lived magazine column, been mentioned in print, was a guest on Spokane Talks, been a Spokane Guild Tastemaker ( still am ), toured several places before they opened and met numerous important decision makers. It's amazing! 

One has to understand that while many geek out about seeing their favorite band or famous person. I get the same joy seeing the inside of a under construction building, being one of the first to try a new restaurant and even just being first to write about a new place on here. When a post is successful it's brings me joy beyond what is probably normal, but that's who I am.

I am a major introvert so sometimes this blog has brought me out of my shell, put me in more then a few uncomfortable situations. I regret to admit but I've passed up some opportunities I probably could have taken to further this site. I'm not one to sit on the phone asking millions of questions like the traditional writers and reporters, heck I try avoid phone calls altogether most of time. But, somehow I put something out on a regular basis on this site and I'd like to thank anyone who's worked with me to get info for this site. I apologize for not being the best to work with, but my deep down passion for this site keeps me going.

I have no plans to stop blogging any time soon. I won't lie, I have considered it in the past. I've thought about re-starting the site with a different name and format, I've thought about going to a YouTube vlog format . But when they the day is done, I think I have something that sorta works as is or else you wouldn't be here reading this. 

I'm not here to compete with anyone, my stories overlap with a few other media sites sometimes , but I don't intend to be here to take readers away from anyone. Instead I want to help be another voice in the effort to promote our region. I'm a proud Journal of Business subscriber, will recommend Ed Clark's How's Business newsletter to anyone and will gladly give out a link to something in The Inlander, if I know they beat me to a new restaurant or something. Too many people put the Spokane area down and I just want to be a way for people to find something new and cool, rethink what they thought.

Thank you for reading my celebratory rant, even though I did mention my introvert tendencies earlier, please do reach out to me any time.

 If you want to ask me a question about something you saw being built, if you're working on a business or project and want to show me / send me info, or just to say hi. Please do reach out ( Office-inlandbusiness@yahoo.com / Direct- matt.behringer@inlandnwbusiness.com ) . And, if you see me out and about, come up and say hi because I genuinely do love meeting the people who read this site and I'd love to tell you Thank You in person!

Stay tuned , big things I'm sure are in store in the next 10 years!

Popular boba tea truck to open a new shop in River Park Square

 If you visited several of the farmers markets in the Spokane area over the summer, or several other local events for that matter, you probably recognize Tea's Co. . The small businesses bright multi color trailer isn't easy to miss.

The trailer sells a selection of tea's and tea lemonades with boba and jelly options all made to order and they we're actually one of the first to introduce the boba trend to the Lilac City. Owned by two sisters, Tea's Co. has gathered quite a following despite not having a a permanent store location.

Pay no attention to the women behind the curtain... the location of the new RPS Tea's Co.

But, that's changing as Tea's Co. is currently renovating a space in River Park Square for a new more set location of their tea business. That space will be in the former Auntie Anne's space on the second floor of River Park Square nearby Polka Dot Pottery and Urban Outfitters. They plan to open for business there sometime during the month of November. It also appears they also plan to hit the streets again with their trailer once the weather allows again. 

For more info on Tea's Co. including a look at their menu, visit- http://teascompanyspokane.com

Large new Performing Arts Center planned in Spokane Valley

 

Renderings designed by NAC Architecture

Plans we're announced today in regards to what will be one of the largest projects planned to come to Spokane Valley. The project is a new Performing Arts Center, with a 59,000 SF building foot print the project is estimated to cost $36 million dollars to construct and will become the new home of the Spokane Valley Summer Theater.  

The center, named Spokane Valley Performing Arts Center or PAC for short is proposed on a five acre parcel, immediately to the east of the recently built Tru by Hilton hotel, at the corner of Mansfield and Mirabeau Pkwy. Ground breaking is likely to happen in the fall of 2022, with full use planned for 2024. And, despite being proposed by the Summer Theater organization, they do plan to use the facility year round.

The PAC will include a 475+ seat Main Stage Theater , a 200 seat flexible studio theatre , an acting conservatory for area youth in addition to event / meeting space. 

A website has been created by the organization to follow along with their progress in constructing this exciting new facility. Visit them at http://spokanevalleypac.com