POST FALLSA Coeur dAlene-based partnership wants to leverage the draw of the soon-to-be-built Wal-Mart store here by embarking on two commercial developments near the stores site that would have a combined value of $24 million.


Real estate sources say such ripple-effect development isnt uncommon with the opening of Wal-Mart stores, which often attract thousands of shoppers a day. In Post Falls case, Wal-Marts presence will add another magnet to the area just north of Interstate 90 on the citys east end, which already has seen increased development due to its freeway visibility and availability of vacant land.


The first of the two new projects planned near the Wal-Mart site is a 35,000-square-foot retail strip center that would be located directly across Pines Road from the 20-acre parcel on which Wal-Mart will build. The $4 million retail-strip project, to be called Pines Road Center, will be developed by the partnership, North River LLC, whose partners are Steve Ridenour, manager of development services for Coeur dAlene-based Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Commercial Realty, and Dr. Bret Dirks, a Coeur dAlene neurosurgeon. Work is expected to begin on the center within 60 days and to be completed by fall, Ridenour says.


Were working with everybody from hair guys to sporting-goods shops, as potential tenants for the centers six retail suites, he says.


North Rivers second project is to take place on another 20 acres of land that borders Wal-Marts site on the west, Ridenour says. Called Mullan Center, the project would include about 160,000 to 200,000 square feet of space and cost about $20 million to develop. North River is mulling several options for that property, including big-box retailing and auto dealerships, he says.


Were now just trying to think about what mix would be compatible with Wal-Mart, he says, adding that work at Mullan Center could start this summer.


Just about any business that depends on customer traffic is compatible with a Wal-Mart store, says Malachy Kavanagh, a spokesman with the International Council of Shopping Centers, an industry trade group located in New York City.


(Businesses) dont want to be selling the same merchandise as Wal-Mart because you cant compete with them on price, but anybody who wants to be in a high-traffic area is going to want to be near them, basically, Kavanagh says.


Patty Mulhauser, a real estate agent with LP Link Associates, in Hayden Lake, says her company expects to see more interest in five parcels it is representing for sale near the Wal-Mart site.


We generally expect it will spur some additional growth in the surrounding area, she says of Wal-Marts arrival. It typically does.


Kerri Thoreson, executive director of the Post Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, says city officials initially believed the east end of Post Falls north of I-90 would be a medical-office district, based on the presence there of the KMC Health Park, a clinic opened by Coeur dAlenes Kootenai Medical Center in 1996.


In the past year, however, Midway Nissan, Quality Stoves & Pellets Inc., and Bella Granite & Marble Inc. all have opened businesses in the area. Knudtsen Chevrolet Co., of Coeur dAlene, expects to start construction this spring on a new auto dealership just to the east of Midway Nissan, and the Post Falls Police Department will build a new headquarters nearby this fall (See story page A8.).


Youve got some development there that I think was a little bit unexpected, but a nice surprise, she says. Its a nice retail mix.


Eve Knudtsen Benedict, president of Knudtsen Chevrolet, says her company didnt find out Wal-Mart was coming until after it bought its property.


Purchasing the property was a huge step for us and one that we were a little concerned (about) and wondering if wed done the right thing, she says. When Wal-Mart announced, we had huge grins on our faces.


Thoreson says development around the Wal-Mart site also will benefit from road improvements the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer will make as a condition of the citys approval to build its 184,000-square-foot store in Post Falls.


Mullan Avenue, the street bordering Wal-Marts site to the north, will be widened, and traffic signals will be added at its intersections with Idaho Street and Pines Road, says Robert Palus, Post Falls assistant city engineer. Elsewhere between Idaho Street and state Route 41 to the east, the street will be resurfaced and widened slightly, he says.


Amy Hill, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman in Reno, Nev., says the company hopes to begin construction of its Post Falls store in April, and to open there early in 2002.