5-Mile Investment Co., of Spokane, which owns the Five Mile Shopping Center, in North Spokane, plans to develop a multitenant retail building just east of the center, at 6314 N. Ash. It would become the fourth structure the company owns on that block.


Tenants scheduled to lease space in the planned 4,800-square-foot building are Tonicx Bar & Patio and franchise operations of Coeur dAlene-based The Pita Pit and Denver-based 1-2-3 Fit.


Kilgore Construction Inc., of Colbert, will be the contractor on the construction project, says John Stejer, president of Dixon Investment Co., which owns 5-Mile Investment. He declines to disclose the cost of the structure, which will be erected just south of a Spokane-based Weldon Inc. salon for men, on property where the Five Mile Car Wash recently was torn down.


Stejer says final permits are being reviewed by the city of Spokane, and he hopes to begin construction of the building within the next two weeks.


Depending on the weather, he estimates the structure will be ready for occupancy in February.


Aaron Lake, real estate director for Dixon Investment, says, Were slowly renovating that Five-Mile corridor.


Separate companies owned by the same two brothers have been formed to own Simptinos LLC, of Spokane, which will own The Pita Pit franchise and SJR Enterprises, of Spokane, which will own Tonicx, says one of the companies two owners who asked not to be identified. He says Pita Pit will employ up to 20 people and Tonicx up to 10.


The Pita Pit will occupy 1,700 square feet of floor space in the building, and Tonicx will occupy 1,000 square feet of floor space.


Another Pita Pit operation here, near Gonzaga University, is owned by a different franchisee.


Lake says a 650-square-foot patio will be built outside and to the north of the building for customers of both The Pita Pit and Tonicx.


1-2-3 Fit, a fitness club franchise, will occupy 2,100 square feet of floor space in the building and employ six people, says Teresa Flegel, of Spokane, who owns the franchise with her husband, Tim Flegel.


This would be the first 1-2-3 Fit franchise in the Spokane area, and the couple hope to open another franchise on either the South Hill or the Valley next year, she says.


Lance von Marbod, of Cornerstone Property Advisors LLC, is representing the tenants.


The building was designed by Nystrom Olson Collins Inc., of Spokane.


Two other businesses that are leasing space in 5-Mile Investment-owned buildings on that block east of the Five Mile Shopping Center are the Five Mile Heights Pizza Parlor and the Weldon Inc. salon.


A Kar Brite Hand Wash Co. car wash, service station, and convenience store located in another 5-Mile Investment-owned building on that block has closed, says Stejer.


By October, a nationally recognized company will make upgrades to that structure and open there, providing basically the same services as Kar Brite did, Stejer says.


He declines to name that company for now.


Contact Rocky Wilson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at [email protected].