More than $500 million worth of multimillion-dollar construction projects are planned or underway this year in Spokane County.

That doesn’t include any of the projects to be built under the $429 million school-funding measures concurrently approved in Spokane, Mead, and Central Valley school districts, some of which will be constructed starting this year.

The largest school project anticipated to begin this year will be the $36 million Salk Middle School replacement project. The city of Spokane has issued a permit for site work for the project at 6411 N. Alberta, and building permits for the 97,000 square-foot school structure were under plan review as of earlier this month.

Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the general contractor and construction manager on the Salk project, and Spokane-based NAC Architecture designed it.

Baker Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane, had a record construction year in 2015 and expects to surpass that this year, says company president Barry Baker.

Baker Construction is the contractor for a $12 million, mixed-use high-rise planned at 2020 W. Seventh, on the lower South Hill.

Spokane business owners Namva Chan and her nephew, Jonathan Chan, hope to launch the project, named Vinegar Flats Public Market, this year.

Hurtado|Hissong Design Group LLC, of Spokane, designed the 69,100-square-foot-structure, which would have 52 living units on the six floors above main-floor commercial space.

Baker Construction expects to begin construction shortly on a $4.5 million medical office building tentatively named the Kendall Yards Medical Office Building northwest of downtown, Baker says.

Bernardo|Wills Architects PC, of Spokane, designed the three-story, 38,000-square-foot building that’s to be located at 1133 East College, on the north side of Summit Parkway.

Greenstone Corp., the Liberty Lake-based developer of Kendall Yards, recently announced that tenants in the building will include Providence Medical Group and Columbia Medical Associates, two Spokane primary care practices.

Greenstone Corp. also is developing the Meadowwood Technology Campus, in Liberty Lake, where Baker Construction is erecting a $7 million call center facility at 24001 E. Mission. Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. is the tenant for the project.

Bernardo|Wills Architects designed the 80,000-square-foot project, which is scheduled to be completed in June.

Other highly visible Baker Construction projects that are underway include the $10 million 940 North apartment project, at 940 N. Ruby; the $3 million Pet Emergency Clinic project, at 21 E. Mission; the nearly complete $2.5 million Peppertree Plaza project, at 2 W. Third; and the $2 million Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage project, at 4511 N. Division.

The city of Spokane plans to invest $139 million this year on infrastructure, which includes street work, parks improvements, wastewater treatment upgrades, combined sewer overflow basin installations, and other infrastructure work, says Scott Simmons, the city’s business and developer services director.

The first Riverfront Park projects to be funded under a $64.3 million bond measure approved by voters in 2014 are expected to break ground this year.

They include the $5.9 million Howard Street south bridge replacement, a $4.3 million recreational rink and skyride operations facility, and perhaps the initial phase of the $5 million-plus Looff Carousel facility project.

The Spokane office of Edmonton, Alberta-based Stantec Inc. designed the ice rink and skyride facility, which will go out to bid this spring. The ice rink is designed with a lazy river-type feature, which will enable skaters to glide over a winding path in the southwest portion of the park. The rink operations and support facility will share space with the skyride ticketing and operations functions.

Berger Partnership PS, of Seattle, designed the Howard Street south bridge replacement project, which also will go out for contractor bids this spring.

Work on the bridge, which is a component of the envisioned main promenade for the park, is expected to begin in midsummer.

NAC Architecture is designing the new Looff Carousel Building, which will have two construction phases. The first phase will include removal of the carousel and demolition of the current facility. The second phase, which likely will occur in 2017, will include construction of a new, larger facility and installation of the carousel within it.

Also among Spokane’s infrastructure projects, the city plans to invest $25 million this year in its multiyear $125 million filtration system at Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility, at 4401 N. Aubrey L. White Parkway, where initial construction is expected to begin this fall. 

The city of Spokane last month awarded Broomfield, Colo.-based MWH Construction Inc. and its affiliate Slayden Constructors Inc., a contract to serve as general contractor and construction manager on the project, which is expected to be the largest phosphate removal system of its kind in the U.S. 

The largest multiyear, private-sector project under construction in Spokane is Rockwood Retirement Communities’ $40.1 million Summit residential tower project on its South Hill campus, which is expected to be completed this spring.

The main floor of the building, at 2903 E. 25th, is open, says Lisa VanMansun, a Rockwood Retirement Communities spokeswoman.

The main level is mostly common areas, including four restaurants, a theater, a library, an art studio and gallery walk, and an event center, VanMansun says.

Meantime, the exterior of the building, including windows, is complete, and final drywall, painting, cabinetry, and tile work is under way on the residential floors, she says. 

VanMansun says the top five floors are sold out and only about 10 units were remaining to sell as of last month.

Walker Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project. NAC Architecture and Pittsburgh-based Perkins Eastman designed it.

The largest project permitted so far this year in Spokane is the $12.3 million Palouse Trails Apartments project at 5000 S. Palouse Highway on the upper South Hill. Whitewater Creek Inc., of Hayden, is constructing the 114-unit, low-income housing project, and ZBA Architecture PS, of Spokane, designed it.

In all, at least 11 apartment projects valued more than $90 million are under construction or are soon to be permitted in the Spokane area.

The largest imminent multifamily project is Bella Tess Apartments, a 396-unit project planned at 17016 E. Indiana Parkway, in Spokane Valley, where the city is nearly ready to issue permits for six three-story apartment buildings with a total of 204 of the units, says Luis Garcia, Spokane Valley’s development services coordinator.

The permits, which also include a 4,400-square-foot clubhouse and four single-story garage structures, are valued at $17.5 million.

Diamond Rock Construction is the Bella Tess project’s developer and contractor.

The city of Spokane Valley is set to put its planned new city hall project out for contractor bids this month.

The city hopes to begin construction on the $14.2 million project by June 1 and to complete it within 15 months, says Mark Calhoun, interim city manager.

Architects West Inc., of Coeur d’Alene, designed the three-story, 50,000-square-foot structure, which will be located on a 3.4-acre parcel of land at the southeast corner of Sprague Avenue and Dartmouth Road, formerly a portion of the University City Mall.

 

Health care

Several health care projects are under construction or on the drawing boards for construction this year.

Providence Health Care plans to partner with Kirkland-based Fairfax Behavioral Hospital to build and operate a $37 million, 100-bed psychiatric hospital near its campus in the lower South Hill medical district, having received approval for the plan last month from the Washington state Department of Health.

The hospital will be erected about two blocks south of the Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital complex, at the site of the Fifth & Browne Medical Building, which will be razed. Providence hopes to open the hospital next year, although a contractor hasn’t been named yet for the project.

Washington State University Spokane expects to open its new $15 million Spokane Teaching Health Center’s University District Health Clinic this year. The two-story, 42,000-square-foot clinic building is located at 624 E. Front in the southeastern portion of the Spokane campus, where construction started last August.

Bouten Construction Co., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project, and NAC Architecture designed it.

In Spokane Valley, Chehalis, Wash.-based Pacific Cataract & Laser Institute Inc. is developing a $4.1 million eye care clinic at 16818 E. Desmet Court, adjacent to the Providence Medical Park, in Spokane Valley.

The 16,500-square-foot structure will include medical office space and an ambulatory surgery center.

Schwiesow Construction Inc., of Centralia, is the contractor on the project, and Pfaff Architects, of Chehalis, designed it.

Seeking to help fill a niche for lodging in the Spokane’s medical district, Spokane South Medical LLC, of Spokane, is developing a $12.4 million, 109-unit Hampton Inn & Suites hotel at 675 S. McClellan, near Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital on the lower South Hill.

Hospitality Builders Inc., of Rapid City, S.D., is the contractor on that project, which includes the five-story, 73,100-square-foot hotel building and a 53,031-square-foot parking garage. The design team includes JRA Architecture & Planning, of Coeur d’Alene.

The hotel is scheduled to open in spring 2017.

 

Office & Mixed Use

Iron Bridge LLC plans to construct a $7.4 million medical office building on the Iron Bridge Office Campus, says managing partner Kent Hull.

The three-story, 89,000-square-foot structure, tentatively named Iron Bridge IV, would be located at 731 N. Iron Bridge Way, near the rails-to-trails bridge for which the campus is named.

Divcon Inc., of Spokane Valley, is the contractor on the project, and Ron Joseph Architecture, of Spokane, designed it.

Hull says the project is 60 percent preleased, although he declines to identify the tenant.

He says he expects to begin construction on June 1 and to complete the project by the end of April 2017.

In a separate project, Hull is developing the $13.5 million Matilda Building project on the Hamilton Street corridor near the Gonzaga University Campus on behalf of CJF Ferdinand LLC, an ownership group managed by Houston Stockton.

The four-story, 88,000-square-foot building under construction at 1002 N. Hamilton will have 57 upscale apartment units on the three floors above the main-floor retail space. Divcon is the contractor on the project, and Ron Joseph Architecture designed it.

Hull says the Iron Bridge project would benefit from the planned extension of Martin Luther King Jr. Way to a proposed roundabout at Trent Avenue and Perry Street, which will provide a direct link between Iron Bridge Office Campus and the south quadrant of the University District.

City engineer Dan Buller says the city hopes to put the first of two phases of the extension out for bid in April and begin construction in June. The $2 million initial phase would extend the boulevard from Sherman Avenue to Erie Street.

Buller says the second phase, which would complete the extension, could occur later this year or next year.

In another envisioned project that depends on the Marin Luther King Jr. Way  extension, Spokane developer Eric Brown plans to construct a $15 million-plus office complex, tentatively named Spokane River Properties Development, near the south bank of the Spokane River, on the eastern edge of the University District.

The project would have four three-story office buildings and one single-story structure on 7 acres of land with 1,900 linear feet of Spokane River frontage, the center of which lies under the Hamilton Street Bridge. Two office buildings would be east of the bridge, and the other buildings would be west of it.

Brown says he hopes to start site work for the planned office complex this summer or fall if the boulevard extension starts on schedule.

Another transportation connection planned for the U-District is the $15.4 million pedestrian-oriented Gateway Bridge, which will span Marin Luther King Jr. Way and the BNSF Railway Co. tracks with the south landing near the terminus of Sherman Street at Sprague Avenue.

Last year’s state transportation package committed $8.8 million toward the bridge, and the rest of the project funding had already been secured through other sources.

The project design team includes Seattle-based KPFF Consulting Engineers and LMN Architects; the Spokane office of Seattle-based GeoEngineers Inc.; Spokane-based Taylor Engineering Inc., MW Consulting Engineers, and landscape architect Sherry Pratt VanVoorhis PS; and Northwest Dynamics Inc., of Coeur d’Alene.

The bridge project likely will go out for construction bids this year, and construction is expected to be completed in 2018. 

 

Retail

In a highly anticipated project looming on the horizon, Costco Wholesale Corp. has submitted preliminary documents to Spokane County that show the Issaquah, Wash.-based membership warehouse chain plans to move its Spokane operations outside of the city limits.

The 160,000-square-foot store would be located at 11700 N. Newport Highway about 3.5 miles north of the 134,000-square-foot store Costco plans to vacate at 7619 N. Division.

Seattle-based MG2 Corp. is designing the project.

The planning documents don’t list a timeline or construction value for the project, and Costco representatives decline to comment on the project until it reaches the building permit stage.

Although not directly comparable to the cost of developing a new store, the taxable value of the land and building at Costco’s Spokane location is $9.4 million, Spokane County Assessor’s records show.

In Airway Heights, West Partners LLC, of Spokane, is developing the $12 million Hayford Crossing retail plaza at the southwest corner of U.S. 2 and Hayford Road.

Meridian Construction, of Spokane Valley, is the contractor on the project, and the six-building retail center will have 50,000 square feet of retail and office space.

Tenants at Hayford Crossing will include Spokane-based Pawn 1 Inc.; Emeryville, Calif.-based discount food retailer Grocery Outlet; Chesapeake, Va.-based, low-priced variety store Dollar Tree; Champaign, Ill.-based franchise restaurant Jimmy Johns; and Supercuts, a Minneapolis-based salon franchise.

In downtown Spokane, Larry H. Miller Dealerships, which owns and operates Honda, Toyota Scion, and Lexus car dealerships, is continuing to work on its $20 million master plan for its facilities on the west Second and west Third avenues. A two-story, 50,000-square-foot sales and service facility is under construction at 1125 W. Second for the Toyota dealership. That will be followed by construction of a new Honda sales and service facility.

In the initial phase of the plan, Larry H. Miller Dealerships recently completed a 7,800-square-foot expansion and remodel of its Lexus sales and service facility at 1030 W. Third.

John Mahoney Architects LLC, of Tempe, Ariz., is the architect for the master plan.

Garco Construction is the contractor on the Lexus and Toyota projects.

Of a handful of retail-related construction projects underway downtown, perhaps the most visible is the $2.3 million project at 211 N. Wall, the site of the Saad Building, at the east end of the River Park Square mall complex, where Philadelphia-based retailer Urban Outfitters plans to open a 10,000-square foot store next fall.

The entire construction project involves 13,400 square feet of new construction, and the remodeling of 6,800 square feet of adjacent space on the second floor of the existing building.

Walker Construction is the contractor on the project, and ALSC Architects PS, of Spokane, designed it. Spokane-based Centennial Properties, the real estate division of Cowles Co., is the project developer.