A company owned by prominent Spokane developers Dick Vandervert and Lowell McKee is building a retail center on Spokanes South Hill to be occupied by a Washington Mutual Bank branch, a Starbucks Corp. coffee shop, and other tenants.


The company, MV Investments LLC, is developing the 10,000-square-foot center at 3007 E. 57th, across 57th Avenue from the big Cedar Canyon Shopping Center, says Chris Collins, a project manager for Vandervert Construction Inc.


Vandervert Construction, of which Dick Vandervert is president, is building the structure, which is expected to be completed in early September. The estimated construction cost of the buildings shell, not including tenant improvements, is about $700,000, Collins says.


The retail center will include six retail bays. Washington Mutual has agreed to lease a 3,000-square-foot bay at the west end of the structure, and Starbucks has agreed to take a 1,600-square-foot bay at the east end. Each of those operations will include a drive-through window.


The centers other four bays range in size from 1,300 square feet of floor space to 1,600 square feet of space, and Collins says MV Investments is negotiating with potential tenants for those bays, though he declines for now to disclose their names.


Seattle-based Washington Mutual spokeswoman Mary Kelley says the bank plans to move its Lincoln Heights branch to the new space from its current location at 2622 E. 29th, which is located in the same shopping center as Rosauers Supermarkets Inc.


The new location will be an Occasio branch, which is a branch style Washington Mutual adopted a few years ago that stresses retail store-style service.


The six employees who work at the Lincoln Heights branch will be transferred to the new location, and additional staffing might be necessary, Kelley says.


She declines to disclose Washington Mutuals anticipated cost of constructing interior improvements for its branch.


Washington Mutual currently has 14 branches in the Spokane-Coeur dAlene area.


Representatives of Starbucks, which currently has 11 shops in the Spokane area, couldnt be reached for comment.


Russell C. Page Architects, of Spokane, designed the retail center.