A family partnership that includes the codeveloper of Northtown Square and the owners of the Downriver Grill is working on a scaled-back version of their original plan for a restaurant and retail center on Northwest Boulevard, near Audubon Park, in June.

The site of a former auto repair shop there will house the restaurant, a new neighborhood pub and pizza parlor named the Flying Goat, but without other retail ventures for now, says John Stejer, president of the Spokane retail development company Stejer Development LLC. Stejer codeveloped Northtown Square with Chud Wendle, of Pullman.

Stejer and his wife, Jodie, are teaming up with Stejer's uncle, Hal Dixon, and Dixon's wife Vicki, and Stejer's cousin, Jonathan Sweatt, and his wife, Lisa, to develop the Flying Goat in the building just across the street from the Downriver Grill restaurant, at 3318 W. Northwest Boulevard. The Dixons and the Sweatts own the Downriver Grill jointly.

Kilgore Construction Inc., of Colbert, is renovating the 2,300-square-foot space that will house the pub and pizzeria, and an adjacent 1,200 square-foot-space will be used for storage and office space, the partners say. When it's completed, the restaurant will seat 60 and will have additional seating on a covered outdoor patio, Stejer says. The restaurant will employ about 15 people, Sweatt says.

Originally, the partners had planned to expand the smaller building and lease out about 2,500 square feet for retail uses, but have decided to shelve that plan for now. They own the site through a company called Grace Holdings LLC.

Sweatt says the Flying Goat name is pulled from a childhood memory of his that the partners say conjures up a rural European pub feel. The outdoor slats and interior decor, being designed by Jodie Stejer, will incorporate reclaimed wood from old barns and from logs that have been dredged up from the bottom of the Pend Oreille River.

The space is being constructed to accommodate an eight-foot-long wood-fired pizza oven that will be its centerpiece. Sweatt says he and a chef from the Downriver Grill have attended training sessions on the west side of the state to learn to use the specialty oven.

In addition to pizza, appetizers, and salads, the business will serve a variety of beers and wines, including beers made by Spokane-based Northern Lights Brewing Co. and other regional breweries. Stejer says the partners hope to provide a neighborhood gathering spot, "a place you can walk to or bike to." It also will be open to families and will offer wireless Internet access to its customers, he says.