Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, has landed seven construction jobs worth a combined nearly $40 million.

Of those, the three biggest jobs, which total about $35 million, are for projects in Clarkston, in southeast Washington state, and in Yakima and Wenatchee, both in Central Washington. Two are for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and the third is for a hotel.

On the local front, Vandervert Construction broke ground recently on a 16,700-square-foot retail center, to be called Mount Spokane Village, at 14011 Newport Highway, just north of the Alderwood RV Resort in Mead, says project Manager Aaron Finley.

The $1.1 million center will have 10 retail suites, the largest of which will have 3,200 square feet of floor space. It will be owned by Little Spokane Partners LLC, which is headed by Dick Vandervert, who also heads Vandervert Construction. Russell C. Page Architects LLC, of Spokane, designed the project. Construction is expected to take four months, Finley says.

No tenants have been announced for the retail center yet, he says.

Also here, Vandervert Construction is building a new facility for Spokane Child Development Center LLC, just south of the Spokane Business & Industrial Park, in Spokane Valley. The 8,000-square-foot structure is valued at $700,000. The project was designed by Russell C. Page Architects.

Vicki Greger, who owns the day-care center, says the new building will be slightly smaller than the building the center occupies now, but will offer space that can be used more efficiently and will maintain its capacity of 98 children. The project site is just east of the center's longtime location at 15540 E. Euclid.

Spokane Valley-based Crown West Realty LLC, which owns the industrial park, will own the new building. Spokane Child Development Center leases its longtime space from Crown West, Greger says.

Also in Spokane Valley, Vandervert recently began construction of a $1.3 million building for a Chuck E. Cheese pizza restaurant, at 14919 E. Sprague. The 12,400-square-foot structure is expected to be completed in January. It was designed by C.T. Chang & Associates, of Bedford, Texas.

The land and building will be owned by Thompson Family SV Investments LLC, and Topsa Pizza SV Inc. will operate the restaurant. Both companies are owned by Sam Thompson and his son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Linda Thompson. They also own the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant at 10007 N. Nevada.

In Rathdrum, Idaho, Vandervert is building a $1.4 million structure for Les Schwab Tire Centers Inc., the big Prineville, Ore-based tire-sales and auto-service chain.

The 11,600-square-foot project is located at the southwest corner of the intersection of state Routes 53 & 41, says Tim Stulc, vice president of Vandervert Construction.

The structure, which will have six service bays, is expected to be completed in February. Les Schwab says the store will employ at least 15 people when it opens. The project was designed by L.B. Engineering Inc., of Bend, Ore.

Outside of Spokane and Kootenai counties, Vandervert Construction has landed two contracts to build Supercenters for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

One Wal-Mart contract is for an $11.8 million supercenter that's under construction in Clarkston. The other is for a $15.6 million supercenter in Yakima, although construction hasn't started there yet, says Patrick Linhart, Vandervert Construction's project manager for both of the Wal-Mart store projects. Wal-Mart supercenters include grocery departments.

Both stores will have similar floor plans, and each will have 185,000 square feet of floor space, Linhart says.

The Clarkston Wal-Mart project will be located at 306 W. Fifth, a few blocks southwest of the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers. The project, which is expected to be completed in June, was designed by BRR Architecture Inc., of Merriam, Kan.

The Yakima store, which will be near the intersection of 64th Avenue and Nob Hill Boulevard, about a quarter-mile south of the Westwood West Golf Course, will cost more to build than the other store, because it will require more site work, Linhart says. Once construction begins, the project is expected to take about 10 months to complete, he says. The Yakima project was designed by BRCA Inc., of Tacoma.

In Wenatchee, Vandervert is erecting a hotel building for SpringHill Suites, a subsidiary of Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International Inc. The $7.5 million project is located at the intersection of Hawley Street and Wenatchee Avenue, about a mile south of U.S. 2.

The four-story, 109-room hotel is expected to be completed in May, Stulc says. The 68,000-square-foot structure was designed by Lindquist Architects, of Spokane.