Work is expected to get under way shortly on the creation of an unusual integrated site plan for three neighboring, but separately owned, commercial properties in the Southgate area of the South Hill that have been the subject of years of development controversy.

The mostly undeveloped sites, which together encompass about 45 acres, are located near the intersection of Regal Street and Palouse Highway, and—though there are several nearby commercial centers—are adjacent to residences.

The integrated site plan will focus on things such as adhering to a consistent design theme, establishing good pedestrian connections, preserving views and trees, and melding the properties aesthetically and through smooth traffic flow into the surrounding urban district.

The site plan potentially could be completed as early as this spring, and its approval would clear the way for development activity to begin on the respective sites once the economy improves enough to rekindle the currently dormant demand for commercial space.

"Then we can go out to the market to see who's out there, and see who wants to be there," says Spokane developer Dave Black, one of the property owners who will be participating in the joint site-planning effort. The demand for new commercial space here is so weak now that "it's a good time to get all of the planning done," Black says.

The integrated site-planning process was required in development agreements reached for each of the properties as a way to settle litigation brought by neighborhood activists who had challenged proposed city comprehensive plan amendments and zoning changes sought by developers.

"It's very unusual, but you usually don't have three sites in such close proximity going in for zoning simultaneously," says Spokane land-use attorney Stacy Bjordahl, who is representing Black in the matter. "Their projects each will benefit by having consistent, coordinated development schemes, and it's certainly going to benefit the neighborhood."

Architect Gary Bernardo, of Spokane's Bernardo Wills Architects PC, whose firm is expected to draft the site plan, was similarly optimistic, saying, "There's a real great opportunity here. You don't get three developers working in concert very often."

Each of the development properties includes about 15 acres of land. The property that Black owns or controls stretches between Regal and the Palouse Highway just south and east of where those two thoroughfares intersect, and fronts on both roads. One of the other properties, owned by Spokane Radio Inc. and known as the KXLY property, and also about 15 acres in size, is located on the west side of Regal, just south of the Spokane Youth Sports Association's South Complex, at Regal and 46th Avenue.

The third property has multiple owners and is located on the north side of the Palouse Highway, just southeast of the Shopko store at 4515 S. Regal. It's referred to in some city documents as the Home Depot site because the home-improvement giant was looking at one point at putting a big retail store there.

The development agreements hammered out mostly two years ago for each site are "essentially identical," and place limitations on building sizes and massing at each site, as well as spelling out other standards developers must meet, Bernardo says.

The Spokane City Council restricted the developments to include only one big-box store each that exceeds 100,000 square feet of space and required other retail buildings on the sites to be substantially smaller. For example, the development agreement for the Black property, where Black for some time has been seeking to woo Target Corp. to develop a store, allows one large-format retail building of up to 105,000 square feet of floor space, or up to 135,000 square feet if it's a Target store. Also, it says that no other single commercial building on that site can exceed 50,000 square feet. In addition, it establishes transportation mitigation fees that Black says will top $1 million.

Black told the Journal two years ago that, along with Target, he had talked with representatives from other national retail chains such as PetSmart Inc., Old Navy, Barnes & Noble Inc., Borders Inc., Michaels Stores Inc., Ross Stores Inc., and T.J. Maxx about opening stores on the property.

Once completed, the integrated site plan will be reviewed by the city's design review committee, with input from the Southgate Neighborhood Council. The committee will make a recommendation to the city planning director as to whether the plan is consistent with the criteria outlined in the development agreements, and the planning director then will make an administrative determination on that issue.

A Washington state appellate court decision last month removed one of the other lingering hurdles to further commercial development in that area. A three-judge panel upheld Black's right to buy—for about $2 million—a 10-acre portion of the 15 acres he wants to develop. Upholding a lower court ruling, the panel rejected claims by property owners Kenneth and Phyllis Seiler that a sale agreement Kenneth Seiler signed with Black in 2004 was unenforceable and that it effectively ended before Black took steps to complete the transaction. Backed by the court ruling, Black says he hopes to complete the purchase of that property shortly.

Along with the retail chains that Black has mentioned in connection with the site, court documents say the Seilers also sought to market it over a period of many years to retail chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Fred Meyer Stores, but that—until last year—it lacked the necessary commercial zoning.

For now, though, due to the recession, Black says, "There are no retailers that are going to make any deals."