Sprague & Custer LLC, of Spokane, is developing a retail complex that will house a Schucks Auto Parts store, as well as several other tenants.


The complex, which is to be called the East Sprague Retail Center, is being built on 3.5 acres of land at the southeast corner of Sprague Avenue and Custer Street south of the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds, says Barry Baker, president and co-owner of Baker Construction and a partner in Sprague & Custer LLC. Other members of the development group include the other two owners of Baker Construction, Doug Baker and George Garber, as well as a private investor who Barry Baker declines to name.


The project is expected to cost about $3.5 million, which includes the purchase price of the land, Baker says. Work on the project began earlier this month and should be completed by early spring, he says.


The retail complex will include two buildings. One of the structures will have about 8,000 square feet of floor space and will house a Schucks Auto Parts store. That store will replace a smaller Schucks Auto Parts store located nearby at 4123 E. Sprague.


Schucks currently operates eight stores in the Spokane area, but is expected to have more stores here because its Phoenix-based parent company, CSK Auto Inc., bought the retail automotive parts and accessories business of Bellevue, Wash.-based Paccar Inc. As a result of that sale, Paccars automotive parts stores, which operated under the name Als Auto Supply and Grand Auto Supply, will be converted into Schucks Auto Parts stores, says Joe Beynon, CSK Autos Seattle-based regional real estate director. Paccar had operated six Als Auto Supply stores in the Spokane area.


Meanwhile, the second structure at the East Sprague Retail Center will be erected just east of the first building. It will have about 17,500 square feet of floor space and will be divided into multiple spaces.


Baker says the development group already has secured three tenants for that structure.


Those tenants include MoneyTree, a Seattle-based non-bank retail financial services company that currently operates five branches here; Rent-A-Center, a Plano, Texas-based major appliance and furniture rental company that already operates two other outlets here; and Radio Shack, the Fort Worth, Texas-based consumer electronics chain that operates 12 outlets here.


About 8,500 square feet of space still is available for lease in that building, Baker says.


The new outlets for both Rent-A-Center and Radio Shack will replace each companys current nearby locations on East Sprague.


Baker Construction both designed and is the general contractor on the retail project.