Spokane City Credit Union breaks ground on North Monroe

Spokane City Credit Union is expanding its longtime N. Monroe St. location with a 2,700-square-foot administrative annex. The building will provide additional offices, a new break room, a covered patio and a multipurpose boardroom available for community use. Baker Construction is proud to partner with MMEC Architecture & Interiors to bring this investment in its employees, members, and neighborhood to life.

This project is located at 1914 N. Monroe St. adjacent to Spokane City Credit Union's existing branch. The site was formerly used for a new closed restaurant called Prohibition Gastropub that was demolished to make way for this project.

 Note- this write-up was originally created by staff at Baker Construction & Development and shared on Inland Northwest Business Watch with permission, we only added the site location.

Large mixed use projects on the horizon in Kendall Yards

 

Greenstone Homes' Kendall Yards development has been a hot neighborhood in Spokane for quite some time. But visitors to its business district area often notice among the neighborhood's local restaurants and boutiques is a decent sized vacant lot of dirt that apart from people occasionally parking on it, sits largely un-used. But in the near future that entire space will be home to at least one project bringing new residents, shoppers, diners and more to the far east end of Kendall Yards by the Monroe St. bridge.

Greenstone themselves recently applied to construct a new $70 million six story mixed use building at 1175 W. Summit Pkwy. . We reached out the Greenstone for comment, and we're told it was too early to comment on the project. The current plans for this development would include 200 new apartments on the upper floors and 52,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space on the ground floor. A two-story parking garage would be included in the basement of the new building. 

As they didn't want to comment on the project it's not known as to when construction might start on the development or an estimated completion date, we will do a more in-depth post about this project once more information is public knowledge. Originally in the pre-development phase of this project with the City of Spokane, this was mentioned to be housing for senior citizens but that was just not mentioned in the building permit filings.

While not an actual project yet, a bit to the east of Greenstone's site is another vacant lot at 1061 W. Summit Pkwy. which is owned by Premera Blue Cross and was intended for an office building for their company at one point. However, Premera has recently listed their parcels up for sale, currently marketing the site by themselves on popular commercial real estate sites like LoopNet (https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1061-Summit-Pkwy-Spokane-WA/40481441/)

This site is directly at the base of the Monroe St. Bridge and at the entrance of Kendall Yards greatly increasing its visibility. They say the site could be a range of uses including commercial, hotel and multi-family residential uses. The Premera land is 2.05 acres and currently being marketed at $7,650,000. 

Between Greenstone's new six story mixed use building and a possible redevelopment next door on Premera Blue Cross' land I think it goes without saying some big changes are on the horizon at Kendall Yards.

7 Brew Coffee coming to Spokane Valley

 

7 Brew Coffee has been eyeing the Inland Northwest for new locations for some time now. But recently the company filed for their first building permits for a location in Spokane Valley. The Springdale,AR based drive thru coffee chain has been rapidly growing nationwide and is often considered a competitor of Dutch Bros. Coffee. 

Commercial grading and building permits have been applied to place a new 7 Brew Coffee location at the now demolished Shari's Restaurant at 322 N. Sullivan. The site is in a highly travelled area, just north of the junction of Sprague & Sullivan. There is no confirmed opening date for this stand location at this point. 7 Brew Coffee uses a unique construction model where construction workers will prepare the site locally while the stand itself is built offsite and placed on the foundation with a crane once ready, usually relatively quickly.

It's thought there will be more 7 Brew Coffee locations coming to the Spokane / Coeur d' Alene area as there we're pre-development applications already done for another location elsewhere in Spokane Valley and for one in Spokane. The company reports having over 750 locations nationwide now open and operating, but with many more in the works. The company's name is derived from its original menu of seven coffee drinks, but that number has expanded. 7 Brew's menu also consists of coffee, energy drinks, fizz sodas, teas, chai & matcha's, lemonades, smoothies and shakes. For more information on 7 Brew Coffee, visit their website at https://7brew.com

Panda Express coming to the Hwy. 41 corridor in Post Falls

 

Courtesy rendering of the new Post Falls Panda Express and attached plaza provided by Jordan Wirsz of Corhaven Properties.

Panda Express, the quick service Asian food chain will soon have another location in North Idaho. The Rosemead,CA based chain will be the main tenant of a new small strip mall, immediately north of the new 7-11 and the intersection of Hwy 41 and Poleline Rd. in Post Falls. This would be the second Post Falls location for Panda Express as the company also operates a restaurant in front of the State Line Wal-Mart store on the opposite side of the city and like the others this new location will include an indoor dining area and drive through window.

Construction on the new Panda Express restaurant is currently estimated to start construction in September with Young Construction Group of Idaho acting as general contractor. It's also estimated that the restaurant will open in the late Q2 of 2027.  This will be to first of three tenants going into this new commercial building which is being developed by Jordan Wirsz of Corhaven Properties. One unit at 1,680 square feet and another at 3,360 square feet. Pad sites of land are also available within the same site, for more information on becoming a tenant of North Point Plaza contact Jeff Ottmar with NAI Black at 208-666-0659 or jeff.ottmar@naiblack.com

For information of the projects of the Hayden based Corhaven Properties, visit their website at https://corhaven.com/

New fantasy themed cafe coming to North Spokane

 A unique local business is coming to North Spokane, Honeyspell Cafe is a new fantasy themed cafe that's working on setting up shop now at 10115 N. Newport Hwy, in the same building, but opposite end from the original Eddie's Kitchen & Tavern.

Honeyspell Cafe is a creation of local business owner Emily Peterson, who is also a one of the recognizable faces at Page 42 Bookstore on Crestline, also here in Spokane. The new cafe is currently planning to open sometime in early September, with an official opening date announced soon on their social media pages. The business will focus on coffee, specialty drinks (teas, energy drinks, and wine/mead in the future) and pre-made pastries and breads. I'm told there will also be a small amount of retail items as well like art, merchandise, etc...

Business owner, Peterson says she wants Honeyspell Cafe to be a restful place to gather with friends and make new ones too. To help fulfill that goal she also mentions the schedule of events at the cafe will be packed full of events ranging from live music and open mic nights. To trivia and speed dating and more. For more information on HoneySpell Cafe and their progress towards opening day, give them a follow-on social media ( Facebook or Instagram )

Golden Rule Brake now open in Coeur d' Alene

Courtesy photo- Coeur d' Alene Golden Rule Brake location.

Spokane based Golden Rule Brake held a ribbon cutting earlier today for their new Coeur d' Alene location, the fifth location for the regional chain. "We have been looking for an opportunity to expand into Coeur d' Alene for a while now," said Dallas Low, owner of Golden Rule Brake. "We can't wait to serve this community," Low added.

Golden Rule Brake Coeur d' Alene is now scheduling appointments at https://goldenrulebrake.com or by phone at 208-664-9949. This new location can be found at 3637 N. Government Way, and is a new construction building, built specifically for Golden Rule with Ginno Construction acting as the general contractor with ROMR Architects doing the architectural work for the project. The Coeur d' Alene shop is the company's fifth location and it's second in North Idaho, following the Post Falls location the opened in 2023. They point out customers can expect the same honest, straightforward service, including free brake inspections, brake repair, alignments, and suspension repairs. The shop services cars, trucks, SUV's, hybrids and electric vehicles.

Distort opens in Downtown Spokane

 

Distort Spokane is now open at 307 W. 2nd Ave. in Downtown Spokane, the new locally owned and operated shop is small and located in the former home The Tiny Tiki bar. Distort is a unique shop focusing primarily on being an art gallery with rotating artists every month.

Distort also plans to carry underground art and prints, records/ cassettes/ cd's/ shirts/ patches/ zines and books of the hardcore punk, death metal, grindcore and power violence variety. These items in addition to studded belts and bracelets, jewelry, stereo gear like turntables and other musical gear. The owner is also planning on using the space for occasional community workshops. 

For more information on Distort, visit their website at https://distortspokane.com

Atilano's Mexican Food coming to Post Falls

 

Boasting "San Diego's Best Burritos" might not be completely accurate as Atilano's Mexican Food actually has no locations in the San Diego area but is actually a Spokane based chain of quick service Mexican restaurants that's gained a bit of a cult following in recent years. The restaurant has locations all over Spokane, Spokane Valley and Coeur d' Alene and is now expanding into the Post Falls market.

The first Post Falls Atilano's will be located in the former Zip's restaurant location at 1645 E. Seltice Way. The restaurant will occupy then entire 2200 square feet of space in a stand-alone building, with drive thru, another commonality of Atilano's Mexican Food restaurant locations. As a Zip's the building had space to seat 42 indoor diners. At this point it's not known exactly when the new Mexican restaurant will open, also they do serve many other Mexican dishes other than their famous burritos.

Alaska Airlines to begin Spokane to Honolulu direct flight

 

Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines announced today the increase of seasonal flying to Hawaii with new flight service in-between Spokane and Honolulu, and Boise and Honolulu. Beginning in Mid-December, Alaska Airlines will be the only carrier connect Honolulu with Spokane and Boise.

Both routes will be operated with an Alaska Airlines branded Boeing 737 Max aircraft. From Honolulu, travelers could then connect onto a number of different Pacific Island and Asian destinations. In addition to the new service Hawaiian Airlines (the two airlines merged recently) will also be increasing capacity on existing routes, including the addition of three weekly flights between Honolulu and Las Vegas during peak holiday and spring break periods. 

The Spokane to Honolulu flight service will be arriving and departing weekly on Saturdays from Dec. 19th - Apr. 17th, exact times and prices will be presented at booking of the flight. For more information on this flight and the other flights on Alaska Airlines serving Spokane, visit their website at http://www.alaskaair.com

4 Seasons Coffee Roasters opens near Downtown Spokane

Locally owned and operated since 1976, 4 Seasons Coffee Roasters opened a second location in Spokane's University District, nearby Downtown yesterday. The new coffee shop is located within the Catalyst Building at 601 E. Riverside Suite 110. The shop offers the standard coffee menu, with a few "non-coffee options". Those with looking for a bite to eat will also be in luck as 4 Seasons also has a small food menu, including De Leon's Breakfast Burrito and some pastries. 

The new 4 Seasons Coffee at the Catalyst Building is currently open Monday-Friday 7am-3pm. They still have their Spokane Valley coffee shop open at 12410 E. Indiana.