Rite Aid Corp., the Camp Hill, Pa.-based pharmacy and retail store chain, plans to move a store it operates at the northwest corner of Pines Road and Sprague Avenue in Spokane Valley to a $2.3 million building that a developer here says he will construct for it on the other side of Sprague.

The developer, Thomas Hamilton, has applied for a building permit for the project and says four aging buildings east of Dave's Bar & Grill on Sprague and a medical office building that faces Pines will be demolished to make room for the planned 17,500-square-foot building.

Hamilton, who has owned the property at the busy intersection for about 30 years, says Rite Aid has signed a lease agreement for the proposed building, and work will begin at the site as soon as demolition and building permits are issued.

"We're dealing with some traffic issues," he says of the building permit's status.

Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project, and Bernardo Wills Architects PC, of Spokane, designed it.

Hamilton says the pharmacy chain wants to move to the new location to increase its visibility. Where it is in line with other stores in the Opportunity Shopping Center on the north side of Sprague, it isn't exposed to traffic as much as it would be if it were alone at a corner of the intersection, he says.

Carlos Landa, who owns a portion of the shopping center, says Rite Aid leases 22,000 square feet of floor space and has been a tenant there since the late 1990s when it acquired the PayLess Drug Stores chain, which operated an outlet there for more than 25 years.

"I don't think we're planning on an immediate replacement," Landa says. "Rite Aid has been talking about that corner for two or three years, but there's no new building there yet."

Among other tenants at The Opportunity Shopping Center are Jo-Anne Fabrics, Napa Auto Parts, and Old Country Buffet, he says.

Rite Aid operates more than 4,900 outlets in the U.S., including 11 in the Spokane area.