An affiliate of a Phoenix developer has begun work on a $1.6 million, 10,200-square-foot strip center near the WinCo Foods Inc. supermarket on Spokane's far north side.

Kilgore Construction Inc., of Colbert, is the contractor on the project, which is located at 920 E. Hoerner, just east of the WinCo store. Jeff Kilgore, president of the construction company, says it's expected that the project will be completed in November and will house up to nine tenants,

The owner of the project is Spokane Pavilion LLC, a Los Angeles affiliate of Kornwasser Shopping Center Properties LLC, of Phoenix, says Gordon Keig, a development partner for Kornwasser. In April, Kornwasser submitted a building-permit application to the city of Spokane for the project.

Keig says he has secured leases with tenants to fill about 30 percent of the building, though he declines to name them.

He says Spokane Pavilion owns 5.5 acres of land there and hopes to build additional structures on the property later.

"We want to build this one, and when there is sufficient tenant activity, we'll likely build another," Keig says.