Expo at Post Falls, the big, multi-use development thats been on and off the radar screen for more than a decade, is seeing a surge of activity that includes nearly a dozen new buildings with a combined value of $8.3 million.


One building has been constructed there this year, five currently are under way, and five more are expected to get started next year, says Dan Mattern, whose SCS Properties LLC, of Post Falls, is one of four developers involved in those projects.


Additionally, there are seven other lots in that phase of the development, and six of them have been sold to owners who plan to build there within the next two years, says Paul Bielec, vice president of Bielec Enterprises, of Coeur dAlene, another developer at the site.


The overall Expo at Post Falls development was first envisioned by Seal Beach, Calif.-based Watson & Associates as a $50 million mixed-used complex on 200 acres of land north of Interstate 90 near Pleasant View Road. Watson has sold off portions of the property to individual developers and users there, and up till now only a handful of commercial and industrial structures have been built there, in addition to a 432-lot residential subdivision called Woodbridge.


The new construction is taking place along Innovation Way, which currently is a dead-end street that runs to the southwest from Seltice Way a short distance west of Pleasant View, Bielec says. Another 15 lots are expected to become available in that area early next year in another phase of development that will include extending Innovation Way to the northwest to reconnect with Seltice, creating a loop.


The building that already was completed there this year was developed by Bielec Enterprises. The 8,000-square-foot structure is valued at about $750,000, and is being marketed for lease, Bielec says.


The five buildings that are under way are:


Two that are being developed by SCS Properties LLC. One of those buildings, a 17,000-square-foot, $1.2 million structure, will house Special Construction Systems Ltd., a Post Falls commercial contractor also owned by Mattern. The building includes 10,000 square feet of office space and 7,000 square feet of warehouse space.


The other building is a $700,000, 5,000-square-foot structure that will be leased by Sprint Communication Engineering and Innovative Construction & Design. Sprint Communication Engineering plans to relocate there from smaller quarters in Post Falls, and Innovative Construction & Design is a Liberty Lake company that also has a Post Falls office, Mattern says. It will move to the new office building.


A 10,000-square-foot building being developed by D&M Management LLC, of Post Falls, at the corner of Innovation Way and Seltice, says Mattern. That $700,000 building will be offered for lease, he says.


Two buildings along Innovation Way being developed by Expo LLC, of St. Petersburg, Fla. The structures, one with 6,000 square feet of floor space and the other with 5,700 square feet of space, will have a combined value of about $1 million, Mattern says. Both will be offered for lease for office and warehouse uses, he says.


Innovative Construction & Design is the contractor on all 11 new buildings. Nine of the buildings were designed by H2A Architects PA, of Coeur dAlene. The name of the architect for the two Expo LLC buildings couldnt immediately be determined.


Mattern expects that the five additional buildings will be constructed there next year for a total of 11 new buildings over a two-year period. Those five buildings will include a total of about 48,000 square feet of space and will cost about $4 million. SCS Properties will develop three of them, Bielec Enterprises one, and D&M one, he says.


Bielec says Bielec Enterprises owns two lots there, but is likely to build one 15,000-square-foot building on the site. To be located along Seltice Way, that building will be leased out in 2,000-square-foot spaces or larger, and likely will be used for anything from manufacturing to retail, he says.


Bielec also is the real estate listing agent for all of the lots in the current phase of development and the 15-lot next phase to start next year.


Watson & Associates, which still owns much of the property in the overall development, couldnt be reached for comment.