A family trust here hopes to develop a shopping center, a number of office buildings, and multifamily housing on 36 acres of former farmland along U.S. 395 north of Spokane.


The retail-office portion of the proposed development is being called Midway Plaza and would be located on 28 acres near the northeast corner of U.S. 395 and Hatch Road, says Terry Snow, a Spokane attorney and trustee of the Cordill Family Trust, which hopes to develop the property. Snow also is a relative of the Cordill family.


Hes unsure of the value of the retail-office part of the project, but developers who have completed similar projects say it likely would cost at least $30 million as envisioned, Snow says.


The multifamily-housing portion of the project, a value for which hasnt been estimated, would be located on eight acres south across Hatch Road from the proposed Midway Plaza site, but Snow says the trust doesnt have any firm plans for that property yet, Snow adds.


The proposed development is roughly two miles north of the Wandermere Shopping Center, and is near several established suburban neighborhoods, including the Gleneden, Blackhawk, and Wellington developments.


Tim Lawhead, a Spokane County senior planner, says the Spokane County Planning Commission said it plans to approve a comprehensive-plan amendment that would allow for regional commercial uses on the property north of Hatch and high-density residential on the south side of that road. The land currently is zoned for low-density residential uses.


The commission is expected to make a formal decision on that recommendation later this month, then forward those recommendations to the Spokane County commissioners, who will make the final decision, Lawhead says.


Gary Bernardo, a principal at Spokanes Bernardo-Wills Architects PC who has completed a conceptual design of Midway Plaza, says the planned retail portion of the project would include up to 120,000 square feet of floor space, with a 60,000-square-foot supermarket anchor, strip retail space, and up to four free-standing retail pads.


Eight parcels for office buildings would skirt the north and west sides of the retail portion of the development.


Snow says the design could change if a major tenant has a different need.


Tenant demand also will drive the construction time line, so even if the county commissioners approve the comprehensive-plan amendment soon, work on the project likely wouldnt start until next spring at the earliest, Snow says.


The Cordill Family Trust has considered commercial development on the site for a number of years and has been working to get needed zoning for about four years, Snow says. The project has met with opposition from residents of nearby neighborhoods, but the trust is considering neighbors input on aesthetic aspects of the retail centers design.


Right now, Wandermere Shopping Center is the northernmost retail hub along U.S. 395 here. Since that development was built, however, the metropolitan area has grown farther north.


A retail center at Hatch and U.S. 395 also would benefit later from the planned north-south freeway, which eventually will connect U.S. 395 north of Spokane to Interstate 90 in East Spokane. The freeway is expected to connect to U.S. 395 at Wandermere Road, about a mile north of Wandermere Shopping Center. Consequently, Snow says, Midway Plaza would be the first retail center encountered by northbound traffic coming off the freeway onto U.S. 395.


The Cordill Family Trust was established in the mid-1990s by Clark and Evelyn Cordill, who operated a dairy farm on the proposed development site for several decades. Terry Snow is married to their daughter, Colleen. Both Clark and Evelyn Cordill died in 2001, and their son, Leonard Cordill, and daughter survive them.