Spokane businessman John Crow has bought the former Wyvern Cellars property on the West Plains and plans to develop an industrial park there.


Crow, who is president of Spokane Valley-based Lloyd Industries Inc., which makes pizza and bakery equipment, bought the 5.5-acre site through a company called 7217 Westbow LLC, says Mark McLees, a real estate agent at Spokane-based NAI Black who handled the transaction. The property is located at 7217 W. Westbow, just south of Interstate 90 and east of Spotted Road. A log cabin and a warehouse located on the site will be demolished, McLees says.


Crows limited-liability company bought the site last week from Brett Burris, a contractor in Redmond, Wash., for $300,000, McLees says. Earl Engle, of NAI Black, represented Burris in the transaction.


Crows company plans to develop three industrial buildings with a total of 100,000 square feet of space there, McLees says. Preparatory work is expected to start next month at the site, he says. Construction of a 40,000-square-foot building is planned to start next spring and be completed by July 2009. In 2010, the company likely will develop the other two buildings, which probably would include another 40,000-square-foot structure and a 20,000-square-foot structure, he says.


The site is zoned for light-industrial use, and McLees will market the buildings for sale or lease to manufacturers. An estimated cost for the project isnt ready to release yet, he says. The company hasnt selected an architect or contractor, but likely will choose either Moses Lake, Wash.-based Legacy Construction Group Inc. or Spokane Valley-based Brown Contracting & Development Inc. to build the structures, he says.


Crow is developing a business concept related to manufacturing for one of the buildings, but that plan still is in the early stages, McLees says. He declines for now to disclose further details.


Burris bought the site in 2004 during an auction held by U.S. Bank, which had foreclosed on the property earlier that year. Worden Inc., which operated Wyvern Cellars, shuttered the winery in 2003. Worden, owned by Ken and Tara Barrett and Rebecca Chateaubriand, filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in 2001.


The owners had bought the winery from Jack and Phyllis Worden in 2000 and changed its name from Wordens Washington Winery to Wyvern Cellars. Before it closed, the winery made, bottled, and distributed vintage wines under its own label and under private labels.


Contact Emily Proffitt at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at [email protected].