G.I. Joes Inc., which operates a chain of sporting-goods and auto-accessories stores, says it plans to open its first store in the Spokane market next spring in the Pine Water Plaza development just north of Spokane, and expects to open a store in Spokane Valley in 2008.


Meanwhile, Spokane-based Pine Water Plaza LLC, which owns the North Side commercial property, is negotiating with other big-box retailers that are interested in leasing parcels of land there, says Guy Byrd, owner of Spokane-based Cornerstone Property Advisors LLC, which is marketing the development. Those parcels could accommodate a 100,000-square-foot store and a 50,000-square-foot store in addition to the 50,000-square-foot G.I. Joes store, Byrd says. He declines to disclose the names of those retailers.


G.I. Joes, based in Wilsonville, Ore., has signed a letter of intent with Pine Water Plaza LLC for its space and hopes to sign a lease next month, says Norm Daniels, president and CEO at G.I. Joes. Its store at the still largely undeveloped retail center would occupy a building that the owner of the center would build for it, he says.


Were looking forward to working with them, and we hope we can work out the rest of the deal, Daniels says. Were excited about being in Spokane, and we think it will be a great market for G.I. Joes.


The Oregon company is looking at sites in Spokane Valley for the store it expects to open there, Daniels says. The average G.I. Joes store employs about 60 people, he says.


Pine Water Plaza is a 40-acre development, including 16 acres that YMCA of the Inland Northwest bought a couple of years ago for a facility it plans to build there, says Jason Strain, development coordinator for Vandervert Developments LLC. Spokane contractor Dick Vandervert is a partner in Pine Water Plaza LLC. The development is located along the west side of U.S. 2 across from the highways intersection with Nevada Street.


The retail center currently includes a Wheatland Bank branch, a Franks Diner restaurant, and a building that accommodates several tenants, including a Pizza Pipeline outlet, Strain says. The development has about 24 acres of remaining land to lease out, including the potential site for G.I. Joes, he says.


The site that G.I. Joes is looking to lease is south of the developments main entrance, Strain says. If G.I. Joes were to sign a lease for that site, the contractor for the building project would be Vandervert Construction Inc., and Russell Page Architects likely would design the building, Strain says.


Byrd says Pine Water Plaza LLC also is looking at building smaller structures on its property that would accommodate a variety of tenants.


The interest level there is really starting to rise, Byrd says.


Daniels says home-improvement stores typically open outlets in places where G.I. Joes has a store.


Lowes or Home Depot, those are the only people I know that would take those kinds of large spaces, Daniels says of the 100,000-square-foot site at the Pine Water Plaza development.


A Home Depot store currently is located south of the Pine Water retail center, at 9116 N. Newport Highway. A Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse is located at 6900 N. Division, also south of the Pine Water development.


Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowes Cos. Inc. is exploring opportunities in Washington state as part of its expansion plans nationwide, says Jennifer Smith, a spokeswoman for the company. Lowes doesnt comment on a proposed location until it has closed a property transaction for a new store site, Smith says.


Lowes stores typically have 117,000 square feet of floor space, the companys Web site says. Those stores represent an average investment of $18.5 million and employ up to 175 people, the Web site says.


G.I. Joes is turning it up a notch, in terms of its expansion plans, Daniels says. The company just signed a lease to open a store in Bellingham this November and recently opened stores in Kennewick and Mount Vernon, Wash., he says. It also plans to open two stores in Boise over the next two years. Daniels declines to disclose G.I. Joes revenues.


The company has a total of 24 stores in Oregon and Washington, its Web site says. Most of those stores are located along the Interstate 5 corridor, although the company now is expanding eastward, its Web site says. G.I. Joes started in 1952, when a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot sold 2,000 surplus mummy bags for $1.50 each from a tent in Portland, its Web site says.


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