A Coeur dAlene development company has started work on the first building in whats expected to be at least a seven-building, $20 million retail development along state Route 41 in Post Falls.


Though its overall plans are still preliminary, the company, Caymus Develop-ment Co. LLC, envisions developing three retail strip buildings and four pad buildings on an about 17-acre parcel east of SR41, between Mullan and 12th avenues, just a few blocks north of Interstate 90.


The development, to be called River City Center, also will have five acres of space available for future development, says John Hansen, managing member of Caymus.


Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor for the development, which Hansen says should take about three years to complete.


He says work on the first of the three planned retail strip buildings there, each of which will have about 15,000 square feet of floor space and will accommodate multiple tenants, began in late April. It will be located near the southeast corner of the development site, closest to Mullan but facing SR41. The other two planned strip buildings will be constructed to the north of the first, also will face the highway, and will be situated on the eastern edge of the property.


The four retail pad buildings are slated to be built along SR41, in front of the strip buildings. Hansen says those buildings likely will house businesses such as banks and restaurants. A car wash operated by Car Wash Plaza Inc., a Post Falls company Hansen co-owns, already is located along the highway on the site, and will remain there, between the other pad buildings.


The acreage thats being set aside for future development is located north of the three planned strip buildings, on the development sites northeast corner. Hansen says its unclear yet what type and size of buildings eventually will be built there.


He says Caymus Development plans to lease space in the retail strip buildings and lease out the ground for the retail pads.


Were not interested in selling anything, says Hansen, adding, however, that the company could end up leasing or selling the land set aside for future development.


Access to the development would be primarily from SR41, with some access from both Mullan and 12th avenues. Access to the property also is planned from a new street thats being constructed on the eastern edge of the property as a result of a separate residential development. That roadway, to be called Opportunity Street, will run parallel to SR41, and will connect Mullan to 12th, Hansen says.


Robert Palus, assistant city engineer for the city of Post Falls, says the construction of the new Opportunity Street is being paid for by Jordan Hill & Hall Development LLC, of Coeur dAlene, which is developing an about 40-lot subdivision, called Crimson King, just east of the Caymus property. That company also is funding a project to extend the paving of 12th Avenue, which currently is unpaved east of SR41 there, for about a quarter-mile, to serve the new residential project, Palus says.


Caymus first retail strip building will cost about $1.6 million to build, and will have about 15,400 square feet of floor space, Hansen says. It will house about 10 retail tenants that each will lease spaces ranging from about 1,400 square feet of floor space to 1,750 square feet of space, he says. He declines for now to name any prospective tenants.


The building should be ready for occupancy about Aug. 1, Hansen says. The building was designed by Russell Page Architects, of Spokane.


The second retail strip building is to be of similar size, and work on it is expected to begin soon after the first is completed.


Other than the first two buildings, the order and timeline for construction of the remaining planned buildings will be dictated by when businesses commit to take space in them, says Hansen.


The property is largely vacant, aside from the car wash that is to stay and a riding stable that is to be removed, he says.


Contact Rocky Wilson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at rockyw@spokanejournal.com.