Is Chick-fil-A coming to the South Hill?

 The chicken wars might soon be heating up even more around Spokane. As many know Chick-fil-A officially entered the Spokane market with a location at 9304 N. Newport Hwy. in Dec. of 2020. It was quite the opening with drive thru lines snaking thru the surrounding neighborhood for several days.

But, now two years later it looks like Chick-fil-A is working one adding a second location in the Lilac City. No permits have been applied for, but San Diego based 4G Development & Consulting did file for a pre-development conference with the city this week for what is shown in the public record documents as a new Chick-fil-A restaurant in the South Hill's Lincoln Heights neighborhood.

Plans can change, and they can even potentially be cancelled, but the current development plan calls for the new restaurant to be built new on the southwest corner of 29th & Regal. The site, which is already largely vacant would be cleared to make way for a new 4,987 SF Chick-fil-A restaurant building, it is to feature a double drive through, enough indoor dining for 90 and a new 113 stall surface parking lot. No mention of an estimated constriction timeline or opening date just yet.

The info on this possible new Chick-fil-A come on the heels of their competitor, Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen, also showing an attempt at coming to the Spokane area. Popeye's has a location now in Post Falls and once planned a store at Division & Lyons but backed out of that site. Recently a new franchise owner put in pre-development paperwork for a new Popeye's on Newport Hwy. by the Y (ironically by the existing Chick-fil-A) and another close off of US 2 by the Spokane / Airway Heights border. Those also have not yet been issued building permits.

We will continue to keep an eye on these projects and other new restaurant news in the Spokane area.

Portion of the former Luigi's building to be converted into apartments

 Following on the heels of a few other Downtown building re-purposing's, plans are moving forward to convert another Historic building into apartments.  Permits we're applied for this week to convert the second and third floor of the building at 245 W. Main into rental units.

The space has been used previously as office space and the ground floor was last used for Luigi's Italian Restaurant, who's signage still remains on the facade despite the eatery having closed some time ago. The ground floor is shown as not included in this new round of permits and will remain commercial with no mention of a new tenant.

The top floors will be renovated and built out into 12 new apartments with one- and two-bedroom floorplans. In all 8 one bedroom, 3 two bedroom and 1 accessible two-bedroom units will be created. As this is only the permitting stage there is not yet news on what the rental rates will be or when the units might start to become available.

Graham Construction, of Calgary and with offices in Spokane Valley is acting as the general contractor for the project with design work being done by ZBA Architecture of Spokane.

Construction starts for Schweitzer's new employee housing project in Ponderay

 Originally announced in May, construction has now officially kicked off for a new 84 unit employee housing development for the employees of North Idaho ski resort, Schweitzer. The project is a partnership between Schweitzer and real-estate development firm Eastmark Capital Group. The complex will be located near the intersection of Schweitzer Plaza Dr. and Triangle Dr. , in Ponderay, a few miles north of Downtown Sandpoint. The project is to be walking distance to shopping, dining and transportation services including the public shuttle to Schweitzer.

The first phase of the project will see 84 pet-friendly one-, two- and three-bedroom units, and will feature full kitchens, washers and dryers and access to bike and ski storage. The current construction is set to be completed by the Summer of 2023. Future plans for the site include additional housing units, converted picnic areas, outdoor play areas, walking paths, workout facilities, and full-service daycare facility aimed at serving Schweitzer employees with young children in need of affordable childcare.

Schweitzer also continues to make improvements elsewhere around the resort property. In early May, construction began on a new road that will lead to approximately 1400 additional parking spaces and a new chairlift, with the goal of creating more efficient access to the mountain. This new roadway will connect to Schweitzer Mountain Rd. from an existing roundabout. Plans call for having more parking and at least one new chairlift in place by the Winter 2023/24 ski season.

Additionally, Schweitzer opened their new 31 room boutique hotel called Humbird earlier this year with a second phase in the works.  The new hotel also features an on-site restaurant called Crow's Bench.

For more information on the offerings of Schwitzer, visit their website at http://schweitzer.com

HUGE new update to our Current Construction Projects page!

 Ever wonder what's going in where? The articles we publish onto the main site give one a good idea, but there just isn't time to cover it all. That's why we have a convenient page of active construction in the Spokane area, and we just did a big overhaul of it!

Check it out at http://www.inlandnwbusiness.com/p/projects-were-watching.html

New additions include-

New warehousing / co-working space coming to the former Triumph building near Airway Heights.

Upper floors of the Luigi's building to become apartments.

21-unit apartment building planned off of an Alley along Monroe St., near Kendall Yards.

And, a lot more! It's not a list of everything as it's very likely I forgot a couple. There's also a few that I'm hearing about but haven't seen permits / movement on just yet so I'm leaving those off the list for in-case they stall. 

Don't hesitate to reach out with questions ( matt.behringer@inlandnwbusiness.com ). And, with any luck watch for a Kootenai County version of this list at some point as well.

Beard Papa's coming to Spokane Valley

 Starting in Japan in the late 90's the Beard Papa's brand of cream puffs now boasts over 400 bakery locations in 15 countries. And now the brand is on its way to the Inland Northwest.

The location planned for our area will open soon in Spokane Valley, near Costco at 4808 E. Sprague #204. The company will occupy a 2450 SF space with Ryan Oberg, Katie Bohr and Cory Barbieri of Goodale & Barbieri handling the lease transaction for the space.

The about us page of the Beard Papa's website tells us that Beard Papa's began in Osaka,Japan and people in the city couldn't resist the aroma from the bakery or the kind face of the owner, Yuji Hirota. His fluffy white beard was so renowned that became known as " Beard Papa " to the regular customers.

The menu of Beard Papa's locations consists of their famous cream puffs where they allow the customer to choose a "shell" from an original to green tea eclair and many more and after that one can also choose a filling. A few other dessert items are also usually available, and a scan of the company's website shows some locations offer teas and iced coffees but no info if the future Spokane location will include anything extra.

This will be the third Beard Papa's location in Washington as other locations include a location in Lynwood and one within Seattle's Uwajimaya Asian Market. For info on the offerings of Beard Papa's, visit their website at http://beardpapas.com

Seattle based real estate partnership acquires land in Spokane's University District for new Class-A apartment project

 A joint venture between Seattle based real estate developers Spectrum Development Solutions and opportunity zone real estate investment firm Pinnacle Partners have announced that they have closed on the acquisition of a 5.75 acre site in the heart of Spokane's University District.

The companies plan to develop the site in a new, 160 unit 4-story Class-A apartment complex that is yet to be named. Spectrum and Pinnacle plan to break ground in the Spring of 2023 with completion due in the Summer of 2024. The project will be at 811 N. Iron Bridge Way, a short walk across the Iron Bridge from the campuses, facilities, shops, restaurants and more within the main University District.

"This is a terrific opportunity for us to deliver our brand of housing to serve students, healthcare workers and young professionals" said Jhomar Small, associate principal at Spectrum Development Solutions. The project will include a mix of open one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment units, along with ample bike and vehicle parking. Various on-site amenities will include a half-size basketball court, fitness center, and club room. The project will also have easy access to the Centennial Trail and the Spokane River.

Architectual work for the project is being done by Seattle based Mithun in collaboration with local architectural firm ZBA Architecture. No general contractor is shown on the public record documents for this project as of yet.

Property watch- Open House July 7th for a commercial building at 6012 E. Trent with lots of possibilities

 This is a new story idea for our site called " property watch " where we take a look at an active commercial real estate listing. I'm sure more than a few of this site's readers are looking to start or expand a business and this will give a look at what's out there and maybe help fill a space or two.

However, know that I'm not a broker myself, I'm not licensed in any state and make no guarantees. For that kind of info please contact the broker I mention in the article-

6012 E. Trent Ave. in Spokane. Suitable for retail, production and/or warehouse space!

This property is listed with Matthew Byrd, senior advisor with SVN Cornerstone. The property offers 3,000 SF of open warehouse/shop area, 950 SF showroom area and 700 SF storage/production area all along the busy E. Trent Ave. corridor near SCC. There is plenty of newly painted and striped surface parking and approximately 17,000 SF of extra land on the north side of the property for additional parking/yard space. 

Interested parties can even see this one in person, as an open house is planned at the site on Thurs. July 7th from 3-5pm. The space is marketed as leasing at $6,200/Mo./NNN. 

For more information on leasing 6012 E. Trent, contact Matthew Byrd with SVN Cornerstone at 509-499-9229 or matt.byrd@svn.com or stop by the open house. And, once you lease it be sure to come back to this site, send us an email and tell us all about the place you'll open there!