Gonzaga Family Haven opens with 73 new units of permanent affordable housing for chronically homeless families.

 Catholic Charities Eastern Washington, in partnership with Gonzaga University, Gonzaga Preparatory School, and St. Aloysius Parish will hold a grand opening today for their newest affordable, permanent supportive housing community, Gonzaga Family Haven. Located at the corner of E. Foothills Dr and N. Nevada the newly opened project provides housing for 73 families who are otherwise chronically homeless.

Gonzaga Family Haven will include on site wrap around services such as case management, connection with neighborhood medical resources, substance abuse counseling, Head Start & ECAP program afterschool tutor lab and academic support programs, personal health and wellness classes, adult education, employment readiness, food preparation and nutrition classes, scholarships to Gonzaga Prep / GU and more. 

Gonzaga Family Haven is the 17th tax credit property that Catholic Charities has been awarded and constructed since 2012. The site is also offer's easy access to public transportation, 1/4-mile bike and ped. trail, splash pad, community garden, dog park and reflection space. 

For more information on new Gonzaga Family Haven, visit http://cceasternwa.org/gfh

Progress watch- Construction underway for a new Ace Hardware in Liberty Lake

Originally announced as part of The General Store's 75th Anniversary last Summer, actual construction recently kicked off for a new location of The General Store Ace Hardware in Liberty Lake. Site work is happening now, and crews are already getting started on the building's foundation. Yost Gallagher Construction is the general contractor and Russell C. Page Architects did the design work.

The new store is the third Ace Hardware franchise in the Spokane area to be locally owned by The General Store, another exists on N. Argonne in Spokane Valley, and a handful of other Ace stores are also located around the Inland Northwest. No opening date hasn't been set for the Liberty Lake location however, they are hoping for a late summer opening depending on the construction timeline.

The new store is being built on an approx. 2-acre vacant lot at 1425 N. Liberty Lake Rd, just north of the Yoke's shopping center and behind Indigo Urgent Care. Plans call for a 14,825 SF standalone store building with an attached garden center. Inside will be all the normal Ace Hardware departments.

For more info on The General Store, visit- http://generalstorespokane.com

Petco relocating to Northtown Square, freeing up existing building for new businesses.

 Big box pet supply retailer Petco is on the move. The company is now working on relocating their North Spokane store from its existing location in a stand-alone building at the corner of N. Division & Francis to a new to them space several blocks south.

Petco is already in process of renovating that new store space, which is located at the Northtown Square Shopping Center (4727 N. Division), across from Northtown Mall. The space was most recently used as an Ulta Beauty store before they also relocated to the Franklin Park Shopping Center, in the same general neighborhood. Petco doesn't have an announced opening date for the store at Northtown Square as of yet, or if anything new will included with the new store.

Petco's move however does open up a prime space in North Spokane for a new business or businesses. Renovations will also likely happen soon to the original Petco building a 6302 N. Division. That building has 12,000 square feet of space and can be divided multiple ways to allow for anywhere from a single tenant to lease the entire space to four tenants each with 1500-1600 SF each and the owner is open to other configurations. The space would include free parking and what is perhaps the best commercial corner in Spokane County with a traffic count of over 41,000 cruising by each day.

Possible examples of a renovated and divided facade at 6302 N. Division. Provided by Dave Black of NAI Black.

Multiple options are available for the former Petco space, which is currently leasing via NAI Black at a rate of $27.50 per SF/year (NNN). It'll be interesting to see the new Petco store and what becomes of this space. For more info on leasing, contact Dave Black of NAI Black at 509-622-3535 or dblack@naiblack.com or simply visit http://naiblack.com to see a pdf flyer on this and many other available properties.

Construction progressing for large, Affinity at Mirabeau, senior housing complex in Spokane Valley

Construction work is progressing quickly now for a large new 62 & over senior housing development, located off of Mirabeau Pkwy nearby Mirabeau Park, Center Place, the YMCA and Spokane Valley Mall. Given the location, the project is aptly named Affinity at Mirabeau and will feature 170 units with studio, 1- and 2-bedroom floor plans once complete, the project is currently on target for an opening in August. In fact, the developers have already begun pre-leasing units and have started taking appointments at a temporary leasing office nearby at 16114 E. Indiana Ave. Suite 105.

In addition to the residences, Affinity at Mirabeau will offer over 30,000 square feet of amenity space, including- Dilly Dally's Pub, Movie Theater, Fitness Center, Indoor saltwater pool & spa, library, workshop, craft room, billiards room, game room, cyber cafe, a dog spa and more. 

All rents at Affinity at Mirabeau are all inclusive meaning residents will only pay one payment to include rent, utilities, premium cable TV, Wi-Fi and more, making budgeting easy, an important feature for seniors on a fixed income.

The Affinity at Mirabeau project is also just one of many new construction projects popping up in this section of Spokane Valley. The proposed Spokane Valley Preforming Arts Center is shooting for a possible late summer groundbreaking in front of the Affinity project and by the Tru by Hilton hotel. Additionally, permits have been applied for to build a new 13,000 SF medical office building just a bit south of the project and a recent pre-development filing hints at a possible new mixed-use development off of E. Mansfield Ave. also nearby. Residents of this new project will likely find themselves surrounding with activities.

For more information on Affinity at Mirabeau, check out their website at- http://www.affinityforliving.com/mirabeau

Avelo Airlines to launch flight from Spokane to Hollywood/Burbank

 

A new airline is coming to Spokane International Airport soon with an all new destination. Today it was announced that flights will begin soon with Avelo Airlines, a relatively new budget airline to connect Spokane one way with Los Angeles / Hollywood / Burbank International Airport.

Flights start May 25th and will be offered year round, with ticket prices starting at $69. Tickets are even on sale now at Avelo’s website http://Aveloair.com

The Careshop Health & Wellness Co-Operative planned for the former 14 & Grand Salon space

A new collection of health and wellness related businesses will soon fill the space was last the 14 & Grand Salon at 1337 S. Grand in Spokane. The two story 8,600 SF building will house a new venture called The Careshop Health & Wellness Co-Operative. The co-op is a new business from Julie Blaakman, CEO of The Careshop which has already has a retail location on the campus of Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center selling Post surgery and other medical needs,etc. , in addition to scrubs and supplies for those working in the health care field. A second location of The Careshop's retail business is planned for the new co-op space.

They are currently taking applications for new practitioners, vendors and owners to fill the remaining spaces. The membership is open to a large group of those in the medical industry from message therapy or acupuncturist to Doula's to phycologist to whatever, if it's directly involved with health and wellness it's a perfect fit for membership at the The Careshop Health & Wellness Co-Operative.

Some retail vendor space is also available. The facility also includes 24/7 access, internet, free parking  and more all within and easy drive of Deaconess / Providence Sacred Heart and the entire medical district on the Lower South Hill. 

A look at all the space has to offer is located on their website at- http://www.thecareshopscoop.com , 19 memberships will be available and the co-op likely will open in April.

New buildings rise at 4th & Appleway in Coeur d' Alene

 Just off of the I-90 freeway, the corner of 4th and Appleway is one of the busiest intersections in the City of Coeur d' Alene. And the few remaining vacant spaces in this neighborhood are quickly being filled by new buildings.

Located at 2605 N. Fourth, by the Verizon store is a new strip mall nicknamed the Lucille Building.  Although the building is a new construction, it is opening fully leased. Among the opening tenants are-

Stylus Wine & Vinyl Bar

Refined Salon

Align Yoga Studio

Heirloom (Custom bridal shop)

Northwest Construction Management

Two new buildings, both 3200 SF are under construction just to the west of the 4th and Appleway intersection., next to the Surf Shack burger restaurant. One of the two buildings we're told will be occupied by a wellness bar, that we presume will be a location of North Idaho Wellness Bar and are working to confirm this info.

Leasing info for this and other commercial developments around Coeur d' Alene is available via Northwest Realty Group, info in the photo.

New restaurant, Chowderhead heading to N. Monroe

 A uniquely named restaurant is coming to a space on N. Monroe, just north of Downtown Spokane. Chef Travis Tveit who formerly spent some time as the head chef at Iron Goat Brewing has decided to launch is his own restaurant here, called Chowderhead.

Staff photo- The new location of Chowderhead and N. Monroe & Mallon, unfortunately partially blocked by some unrelated utility construction. Don't they know there is blog writer trying to get a good photo?!?

Chowderhead will take the place of Ruins at 825 N. Monroe, corner of Monroe and Mallon. The menu at Chowderhead will highlight soups and sandwiches, and yes of course there will be chowder, multiple kinds it looks like. The menu is presently being perfected with an opening day not yet announced but planned to be within the next few weeks.

Beers are also planned to be available. To keep an eye on their progress, check them out of social media-

http://www.facebook.com/chowderhead or https://www.instagram.com/chowderhead.spokane/

New restaurant, Yummy Crab, coming soon nearby Gonzaga

A banner sign is now up indicating a new Crab forward restaurant coming soon to the former Burger King building at 1723 N. Division, near Gonzaga and a bit north of Downtown Spokane. The new restaurant is called Yummy Crab and will lease the entire 4007 SF structure with Steven Barbieri and Ryan Oberg of Goodale & Barbieri being reported to us as handling the lease for the new restaurant.

Yummy Crab is a relatively small North Carolina based restaurant chain; this will be the first location for the company in Washington state. We reached out with questions, but they declined to comment this early in the process to us. Although they do tell the Spokesman Review, that they hope to open in about three months after renovating the former fast food restaurant.

Yummy Crab restaurants are primarily known for seafood boils, but their menu also includes a selection of fried seafood. Beer and wine are also planned to be included as per the newspapers write up.