Small strip mall coming to land close to the new Amazon Fulfillment Center

A new project beginning on the West Plains will likely mean a few more new shops and restaurants coming soon to the area along Aero Rd, by McDonald's and the Petro Truck Stop. The site is also just a short distance away from the new Amazon Fulfillment Center, a project many are watching closely as it will surely spark even more new development in the area.

Located at 10507 W. Aero Rd. will be a brand new shopping center with 6974 square feet of space and up to 4 tenants. There is already rumors of what businesses might open here but I cannot confirm any and all 4 spaces are still being marketed as for lease at this point in time. One of the spaces will include a drive through however, indicating at least one new restaurant or coffee shop will be likely.

This building is all that is to be constructed at this time. However it is important to note it is actually part of a larger development that at completion will span all of the vacant land currently at the northwest side of the Aero Rd / Westbow Rd. intersection. Among what is purposed in the future is a 60000+ square foot grocery store, but nothing has been officially announced about that part of the project, nor have permits been issued there.

New restaurant, coffee shop and car wash to kick off new development on the West Plains

It's been in the planning phase for months and signs marketing the project have been on the site for some time. But it looks like a new commercial development next to the Hilton Garden Inn, in the 9000 block of US 2 might now becoming to fruition. This is because building permits we're just recently filed with the City of Spokane to kick off actual construction.

The project would be built on a 4.5 acre parcel with patrons coming in from a newly built private access drive at the rear of the site along Hilton Dr. . In all there will be 5 new buildings built with some businesses already announced to be opening there.

Closest to US 2 will be a 6000 square foot Bush Car Wash, a 500 square foot Roasters Coffee drive up and a 3600 square foot Bruchi's location. Bush Car Wash and Roasters Coffee are both Tri-Cities based chains that are new to the Spokane area, Bruchi's however is locally based chain with a reputation of making delicious cheesesteaks and more since 1990. The businesses at the site are to be complete sometime in the Spring of 2020.

Additionally a 14000 square foot retail building and a 9000 square foot office building are included in the plans for the site but no tenants have been announced for them as of yet. There is also no building permits issued for these yet so they likely will be a future phase. Baker Construction is the projects general contractor, Knudson Engineering of Kennewick is leading the engineering work and Wave Design Group, also of Kennewick is doing the architectural design work for this development.

Remitly opens new office in Downtown Spokane

Remitly, an online international money transfer company based in Seattle has chosen to open a new office in Downtown Spokane. The growing company will take space in Bennett Block building at 530 W. Main where Rover.com's Spokane office once was. Rover has since relocated to a larger space in the Wonder Building.

Remitly says their new offices in Spokane will primarily be a product and engineering office where they will employ full-stack junior and senior software developers. They decline to share just how many jobs the new office will create however.

The company says they chose to expand to Spokane due to a strong local job market, workforce and low cost of operations. This will be Remitly's second office location in the US , although with much of the company's business done internationally they also have offices in London, Dublin, Manila and Managua, Nicaragua. In all the company employs over 1,000.

Remitly's product allows people to send and receive money via smartphone apps. The company claims to have close to 2 million customers and helps send and receive more then $6 billion dollars annually.

For more info on Remitly, visit their website at http://remitly.com

Restaurants and more planned for new strip mall in Coeur d' Alene

Work continues to progress on a development on the north side of Coeur d' Alene. Located northwest of the intersection of Ramsey Rd. and Hanley Ave., the bulk of the project is a large apartment complex called The Northern at Coeur d' Alene Place. Once complete the apartment complex will have 294 apartments with 1,2 & 3 bedroom units available.

But on the southern section of the site, adjacent to the existing Maverik gas station is a new 2 building commercial project that will have 10,438 square feet of space and bays for up to 8 businesses. And, it's filling up with tenants even before construction is complete, among the businesses opening there are-

Union Coffee ( a new second location of their original coffee shop on 4th )

Poke Works ( a franchise location of a chain, the first location our area )

Stretch Lab

32 Below Frozen Yogurt

More space is also available for lease, for more info contact Hayden Anderl with Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty at 208-964-0234 or hayden@cbinw.com

Cosmic Cowboy Grill opening in Downtown Spokane

Cosmic Cowboy Grill is growing and expanding. The fresh casual restaurant from Coeur d' Alene has begun working on a new second location coming soon to Downtown Spokane.

The new restaurant will be located on the ground floor of River Park Square, next to Nordstrom. The space was last used by Tortilla Union, a Southwest inspired restaurant that closed recently. Plans are to have the new Spokane Cosmic Cowboy Grill open sometime in January of 2020.

The restaurant will seat about 100 and feature a full bar. Food wise, the Spokane location will serve the same menu as their location in Coeur d' Alene. Their restaurants are a fast casual style establishment with a menu that is more health conscious the most. They serve " creative salads ", soups, sandwiches, wraps, bowls, burgers, and a few entrees. Additionally, they have delicious desserts, a wide verity of sides, a menu for kids and more. Gluten free substitutions are available, as are Beyond-Burger Veggie Patty's on their burgers.

Cosmic Cowboy Grill also does catering with more information about that service and a full menu on their website at http://cosmiccowboygrill.com. Also, keep watching our site and social media as we will try to keep you up to date as this new business progresses.

New Sleep Inn in Spokane opens and sets milestones for the chain

The new duel branded Sleep Inn / Mainstay Suites hotel has opened for business on the West Plains, after months of construction. The hotel features 87 rooms in all and is located near the Spokane International Airport at 3809 S. Geiger Rd.

But, the opening of a new hotel isn't the only story with this new property. The hotel, which is actually a franchise location, is both the 400th Sleep Inn location and the 20th location of the new Sleep Inn - Mainstay Suites duel branding concept. "It's not often that a hotel brand celebrates two major milestones on the same day. I can't think of a better market than Spokane to usher in this landmark " said Megan Brumagim , VP of brand management, design and compliance with Choice Hotels. And, Sleep Inn isn't planning to stop anytime soon with over 150 Sleep Inn hotels in the global pipeline.

Sleep Inn hotels are considered midscale hotels and are just one of many brands held under the large Choice Hotels parent company. In fact Choice Hotels has a number of other hotels open just here in the Spokane / Coeur d' Alene area.

This new Sleep Inn / Mainstay Suites location in Spokane offers both a more traditional room under the Sleep Inn name and suites geared slightly more toward extended stays under the Mainstay Suites name. Amenities of the new hotel include an indoor heated pool, full bar, free Wi-Fi, complimentary hot breakfast,  a 24/7 marketplace, business center, fitness center and complimentary airport shuttle service.

Rooms can be booked via http://www.choicehotels.com and for more info on the local location directly follow them on Facebook at- http://www.facebook.com/sleepinnmainstay-suites-spokane-international-airport-2224361994351494

Thomas Hammer Coffee planning a store on the South Hill

Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters is planning to open a new location, this time on the South Hill. This will be the locally based coffee chain's first location on the South Hill.

The coffee shop will be located within part of a new 3400 square foot building that will be constructed soon at 3173 S. Grand Blvd. . The new coffee shop will be part of a partnership between Thomas Hammer and Washington Trust Bank. Construction will begin soon on the building, which will be on a vacant lot immediately south of Washington Trust Bank's Manito branch.

The new Thomas Hammer location will share the building with a Washington Trust owned community center which will provide event / meeting space that can be rented for various groups. They also plan to use the space for financial education classes and trainings held by the bank.

The project is estimated to cost $750,000 with Baker Construction & Development acting as the general contractor, architecture work done by Wolfe Architectural Group PS and engineering services done by DCI Engineers .

Natural Grocers planning to open a store on the South Hill

We've uncovered plans that show Colorado based Natural Grocers via a general contractor is in the process of accepting construction bids for a new store on the South Hill. This would be the second Natural Grocers store in Spokane, the first one opened a couple of years ago on N. Division near Northtown Mall. Additionally, the chain also has a location in Coeur d' Alene.

Plans call for converting the former Hastings store at 2512 E. 29th into a new Natural Grocers store. The store would take the 25,359 square foot space, with natural and organic grocery items, some refrigerated / frozen foods , produce and vitamins / supplements.

Natural Grocers has been growing steadily in recent years. The company has been in business since 1955 and although a current store count isn't readily available, the most recent public count the chain has 140 stores in 19 states.

Keep watching for more on this project, and for more info on the Natural Grocers chain, visit their website at- http://naturalgrocers.com

Johnson's Custom Jewelry to open in former Dodsons location

Last winter the Dodson's Jewelers closed their doors after 131 years in business. Since Dodson's was Spokane's longest running retail business it was a bit of an " end of an era ". But, very soon customers will be able to return to the same building at 516 W. Riverside for all of their jewelry needs.

That's because Johnson's Custom Jewelry is relocating into the former Dodson's store location and will open with a ribbon cutting tomorrow ( Sept 19th ) at 10:00am. Johnson's has spent the last 8 years operating from a much smaller 600 square foot space in the Downtown's Peyton Building, where they had done custom and repair work for the now closed Dodson's and other local jewelers.

This is a major expansion for Johnson's Custom Jewelry as their new shop is just shy of 3700 square feet. In the new shop, they plan to continue their work in custom jewelry design and repair, but will also include new inventory for walk-in's including a few different designer lines of engagement rings and wedding bands, as well as colored stone and diamond jewelry.

Johnson's Custom Jewelry points out they have a different approach then a typical jewelry store.
" You are often working directly with the person that is creating the jewelry, versus a salesperson which has to translate the ideas to the goldsmith " . And, unlike many jewelry businesses Johnsons Custom Jewelry is a completely locally owned and operated business.

For more info on Johnson's Custom Jewelry, visit their website at-

http://johnsonscustomjewelry.com 

Progress Watch- Downtown’s new Laquinta Inn & Suites

Construction is moving at a rapid pace for the update of the former Fairbridge Inn at 211 S Division in Downtown Spokane. The building is receiving a top to bottom remodel and will soon reopen as Laquinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Spokane Downtown.

Owner Rajbir Sukhbir Sandhu is investing approximately $2.2 million dollars into the project that even includes a 2550 square foot addition to the original building. In all the hotel has 79 rooms on 4 floors.

Although reservations aren’t yet available for the new hotel, some info is already on their website at-https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/laquinta/spokane-washington/la-quinta-spokane-downtown/overview?CID=LC:LQ::GGL:RIO:National:53898&iata=00093796