Saturday, February 11, 2012
Spokane Startup Weekend
An event from Seattle called Start Up Weekend will come to Spokane this April 20th thru 22nd and will take place at Gonzaga University.The weekend long event and will be a place to pitch new business ideas and take advantage of resources available to new businesses in Spokane.Much like a reality show hopefuls will have 1 min. to pitch their business plan to a yet to be announced panel of judges who will advance some on the next level where the entrepreneurial hopefuls will break into groups and work on their businesses plans,etc... More info on the first Spokane Start Up Weekend is now available on spokane.startupweekend.org cost is 55 before April 1st and 75 dollars after.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Update Feb 9th 2012
A company called Inland Empire Residential Resources will build a new affordable apartment complex in the up and coming Spokane International District.The project will be in the heart of the district at 1420 E. Sprague Ave. and cost about 6.5 million to build.The new building will offer 27 apartments as well as 3 new ground floor commercial spaces.While it is needed don't look for this project to begin till next year however.
STCU(Spokane Teachers Credit Union) recently celebrated the grand opening of their newest branch located on the South Hill at 13211 E 32nd Ave. just 1 block west of hwy 27.The new STCU branch boasts many green qualities as well such as solar power and a charging station in the parking lot for electric cars.
In April or May look for a new grocery store with butcher counter and many local foods just north of Downtown Spokane.The new market is called The Family Market and will open in a building at 2121 N Division St,The building was formerly the Frontier West Resturant.
Miles Coffee Co. opened recently in Hayden.The coffee shop offers coffee,esspresso,baked goods and breakfast foods.The new coffee shop is located at 167 W. Miles in Hayden.
The first of it's kind at least for this area,The University of Spokamsterdam recently had their grand opening.The school offers classes in how to legally grow medical marawana and is now open at 127 W. Boone Ave in Spokane.
McKinstry which is a energy and construction firm in Spokane recently fixed up the building at 802 E. Spokane Falls Blvd. to be an office building housing their firm's office as well as some others.The new office building is called SIERR Building at McKinstry Station.So named because the historic building had been used by the railroad in it's past.The new office building was also constructed to be energy efficent.
The Dusty Trunk is new thrift store opening soon in the Spokane's Hillyard section.The store will be located at 5021 N Market St.
Rocky Mountian Construction Group of Hayden,a company I once mentioned for their work as roller coaster construction company has begun construction of a new 18,000 sq. foot 1 million dollar facility near their current home in Hayden,in the Warren K Industrial Park.Once complete the companies offices and operations will move into the new building but the new space will also allow Rocky Mtn. Construction to make a fabricate track and roller coaster cars.
Frosted Cupcakes of Coeur d Alene just had their grand re-opening.Frosted Cupcakes never actually closed but they did remodal their small shop.The cupcake store had been in just 1 suite of the Old City Hall office building on Sherman at 5th Ave in Coeur d Alene.Now they have taken down the walls and merged their space with Computer Guru's space allowing more display area and some seating.
Dahlberg Architects which had been on Coeur d Alene Ave. near 2nd st in Downtown Coeur d Alene is closing.
After a brief hiatis Traffic Stop Espresso is back open with a new owner.Traffic Stop Espresso is a coffee drive thru located near the Kroc Center on Ramsey Rd in Coeur d Alene.
I cannot pin down when the move happened but I noticed Copiers Northwest recently moved their offices from the former office on Mongomery in Spokane Valley over into the office buildings at 10102 E Knox, that house such firms as Carrington College and Belfor in Spokane Valley. Copiers Northwest is located in suite 500.
STCU(Spokane Teachers Credit Union) recently celebrated the grand opening of their newest branch located on the South Hill at 13211 E 32nd Ave. just 1 block west of hwy 27.The new STCU branch boasts many green qualities as well such as solar power and a charging station in the parking lot for electric cars.
In April or May look for a new grocery store with butcher counter and many local foods just north of Downtown Spokane.The new market is called The Family Market and will open in a building at 2121 N Division St,The building was formerly the Frontier West Resturant.
Miles Coffee Co. opened recently in Hayden.The coffee shop offers coffee,esspresso,baked goods and breakfast foods.The new coffee shop is located at 167 W. Miles in Hayden.
The first of it's kind at least for this area,The University of Spokamsterdam recently had their grand opening.The school offers classes in how to legally grow medical marawana and is now open at 127 W. Boone Ave in Spokane.
McKinstry which is a energy and construction firm in Spokane recently fixed up the building at 802 E. Spokane Falls Blvd. to be an office building housing their firm's office as well as some others.The new office building is called SIERR Building at McKinstry Station.So named because the historic building had been used by the railroad in it's past.The new office building was also constructed to be energy efficent.
The Dusty Trunk is new thrift store opening soon in the Spokane's Hillyard section.The store will be located at 5021 N Market St.
Rocky Mountian Construction Group of Hayden,a company I once mentioned for their work as roller coaster construction company has begun construction of a new 18,000 sq. foot 1 million dollar facility near their current home in Hayden,in the Warren K Industrial Park.Once complete the companies offices and operations will move into the new building but the new space will also allow Rocky Mtn. Construction to make a fabricate track and roller coaster cars.
Frosted Cupcakes of Coeur d Alene just had their grand re-opening.Frosted Cupcakes never actually closed but they did remodal their small shop.The cupcake store had been in just 1 suite of the Old City Hall office building on Sherman at 5th Ave in Coeur d Alene.Now they have taken down the walls and merged their space with Computer Guru's space allowing more display area and some seating.
Dahlberg Architects which had been on Coeur d Alene Ave. near 2nd st in Downtown Coeur d Alene is closing.
After a brief hiatis Traffic Stop Espresso is back open with a new owner.Traffic Stop Espresso is a coffee drive thru located near the Kroc Center on Ramsey Rd in Coeur d Alene.
I cannot pin down when the move happened but I noticed Copiers Northwest recently moved their offices from the former office on Mongomery in Spokane Valley over into the office buildings at 10102 E Knox, that house such firms as Carrington College and Belfor in Spokane Valley. Copiers Northwest is located in suite 500.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Spokane city council votes down plan to save the Jensen Byrd Building
At the most recent meeting of the Spokane City Council a plan was brought before Mayor Condon and his council members to persuade new building owner,Campus Advantage of Austin,TX from tearing down the landmark Jensen Byrd Building for their student housing project scheduled to be open in 2013 in a new 5 story building on the site of the Jensen Byrd.However that propsosal was voted down by a 4-3 vote which will allow the building to be demolished.Many people from the community attended the meeting in favor of saving the Jensen Byrd and one council member noted that a plan to identify such historic buildings may be needed to try to block such projects so such a situation does not arrise agian.No word as of now when the building will be torn down.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Follow-up on Cali's Coffee Stop
A few days back I posted a post on here for a new Downtown Spokane coffee shop called Cali's Coffee Stop which had recived a notice to vacate and a business partner who just walked away from the business.Now I happy to report the business appears to be back and hopfully around for a while,The owner has taken over and re-named the coffee shop Waking Bliss and will remain at 406 W 3rd Downtown.Waking Bliss offers coffee,tea,esspresso and snacks as well as local art and places for recovery meetings and clothing exchange programs.Waking Bliss is also hoping to get local musicians to preform in the shop.For more on the new Waking Bliss Coffee Shop check them out on Facebook at...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Waking-Bliss/217814041588693
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Waking-Bliss/217814041588693
Assisted Living development proposal irks some in Coeur d Alene Place.
Residents in the Coeur d' Alene's Coeur d Alene Place subdivision are concerned over a proposal being brought to Coeur d Alene city council at the Feb. 21st meeting. The proposal has already cleared the Planning and Zoning Committee by a 3-1 vote.The proposal is for an assisted living community on St. Michelle Dr. near Woodland Middle School.The development is being brought up by a couple from Coeur d Alene in partnership with another couple from Post Falls,The 2 of which currently own another assisted living facility off of 4th St. directly across from Coeur d Alene High School.The developers choose the land near Woodland Middle School because of the school being so close,They note of prior success with the students from the schools being active with their elderly neighboors nearby and helping them out when they can.The site is on 5.7 acres of surplus land held by the Coeur d Alene School District but being sold to the partners,The property if developed will by 5 homes,and admin building and a storage building all designed to fit in with the surrounding neighboorhood.The facility will handle up to 80 residents at a time and provide up to 40 jobs and while the project sounds appealing nearby residents are not quite as sure,Their issue is mostly over traffic and parking issues in the already high traffic area,over 100 people have submitted negitive notices to city council and many of those will most likly show up to the meeting on Feb. 21st when the issue comes up to council.I'll watch this more and update on here and facebook after that meeting with more....
landmark Holiday Inn undergoing remodel
For that last few years as you head north out of Downtown Spokane on Division St near the beginning of the Division/Ruby couplet you'll notice a hotel on a steep cliff known as the Holiday Inn On The Rock.The hotel is definatly noticeable with it's unique location and it now will become even more noticeable as the hotel is undergoing a full remodal. Hotel owners, Basalt Hospitality which is partly owned by former NFL star Mark Ryken are investing 1.5 million dollars in the property adding over 2,000 sq feet to the lobby and breakfast area and redoing the entire exterior.Once complete the hotel will have a large deck looking out over Downtown Spokane and look almost bavarian as seen in this example of the finished product....
The hotel will remain open during construction which is now well underway.
The hotel will remain open during construction which is now well underway.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Avista to join in Waste to Energy project in Kootenai County
Avista Utilites is planning to ask the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to approve a power purchase agreement to purchase renewable power from Kootenai Electric Co-op's landfill gas generating facility by the Kootenai County Landfill north of Worley on the Coeur d Alene Indian Reservation.The relatively new landfill generating facility is a 3.2 megawatt facility and owned by Hayden based Kootenai Electric Co-Op.
Update Feb 4th 2012
Nitro Killer is a new remote control car hobby shop opening in March in a 2500 sq feet spot at 1015 W. Garland in Spokane's Garland District.
The Gamer's Haven which has been a popular gaming store in Post Falls is moving.The Post Falls location which was on Seltice Way across from The Trading Company will close and re-open at 2114 N 14th St. Suite 1 in Spokane Valley.The Spokane Valley store is twice the size with a total of 6000 square feet.
Double Discount Groceries is now open in Post Falls,Double Discount Groceries sells groceries at deep discounts because many of the items in the store are dented,damaged,etc... The store is located at 402 E. Seltice Way in the former home of Caruso's Sandwich Company.
In a related note to the Double Discount Grocery post,The Handy Mart 2 and Bargin Grocery Store on 4th in Midtown Coeur d Alene is now closed.The owner is the same owner that opened Double Discount.Handy Mart 2 is closing due to the building being torn down later this year to make way for a new affordable apartment complex as mentioned in a previous post.
The Tarot Parlour is now open in Spokane at 2838 N Ruby .The Tarot Parlour does tarot readings with the owner as a member of the American Tarot Association.
Paige Organic Skin Care is a new business doing organic skin care services and waxing,etc.. from their home located inside Modern Apothecary at 9 S. Howard St in Downtown Spokane.
The Gamer's Haven which has been a popular gaming store in Post Falls is moving.The Post Falls location which was on Seltice Way across from The Trading Company will close and re-open at 2114 N 14th St. Suite 1 in Spokane Valley.The Spokane Valley store is twice the size with a total of 6000 square feet.
Double Discount Groceries is now open in Post Falls,Double Discount Groceries sells groceries at deep discounts because many of the items in the store are dented,damaged,etc... The store is located at 402 E. Seltice Way in the former home of Caruso's Sandwich Company.
In a related note to the Double Discount Grocery post,The Handy Mart 2 and Bargin Grocery Store on 4th in Midtown Coeur d Alene is now closed.The owner is the same owner that opened Double Discount.Handy Mart 2 is closing due to the building being torn down later this year to make way for a new affordable apartment complex as mentioned in a previous post.
The Tarot Parlour is now open in Spokane at 2838 N Ruby .The Tarot Parlour does tarot readings with the owner as a member of the American Tarot Association.
Paige Organic Skin Care is a new business doing organic skin care services and waxing,etc.. from their home located inside Modern Apothecary at 9 S. Howard St in Downtown Spokane.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
El Rancho Mobile Home Park shutting
The El Rancho Mobile Home Park which has been at the corner of Mullan Ave. and Hwy 41 in Post Falls for over 50 years is shutting down leaving the high traffic corner giving residents,most of which are low income and some on the verge of being homelessness, only 6 months to find housing elsewhere.The El Rancho has 45 remaining units and almost all homes in the mobile home park are too old to be safely moved as is.The park some time ago was sold to a company called 41 and Mullan Investments,LLC which is a part of Vandervert Construction of Spokane,recently Vandervert and some of their investors split up forming FF,LLC which now owns the park and wants the now in demand commercial corner clear.It's not clear what if anything is planned for the 9 acre site but at one point I heard a rumor of a Safeway store but that was not from a official source so I'll have to keep my eyes out on this one,hopefully more to come this summer...
Silver Lake Mall now part of Rouse Properties
Rouse Properties a regional mall owner and developer that was a spin off of General Growth Properties after GGP filed to restructure after a few years of tough economic times for their shopping centers across the United States.General Growth had owned Spokane's Northtown Mall and Spokane Valley Mall in Spokane but will place Coeur d Alene's Silver Lake Mall under the newly formed Rouse Properties.It's unclear what if any things will change with the new mall owner but a recent e-mail sent to the mall's mailing list hints at wifi and possibly new stores on the horizon. Hopefully Rouse can do some things to help Silver Lake Mall as it's clearly seen better days,the property is kept up but with Hallmark closing and Maurice's moving out soon in the already relativity small mall a lot will be needed.
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