A partnership that includes prominent Spokane real estate developer and broker Bob Tomlinson is proposing a big residential and industrial development for a 300-acre site near Liberty Lake.


The development, called Liberty Lake Meadows, would include about 500 single-family homes, 500 multifamily units, 64 duplex units, and a 29-lot industrial area, according to plans submitted to the Spokane County Division of Building and Planning. It would be built in a number of phases over 10 to 15 years. Even at $120,000 a home, a low-end price these days, the single-family portion of the project alone would have a value of $60 million.


The proposed site for the development is located south of Interstate 90 and north of the eastern portion of MeadowWood Golf Course and The Glen and The Estes housing developments.


Plans for the project were submitted to the county last month by Tomlinson, co-owner of Tomlinson Black Inc., of Spokane, and George Kennett, of Newport, Wash., under the name of Kennett Partnership. Tomlinson says Kennett died a short time later, and children of his now are representing the familys interest in the project.


A major question confronting the proposed development is how it will be affected by the Spokane County Commissions recent adoption of urban growth boundaries, since the development would be outside those boundaries. However, Tomlinson says he believes the project stands a good chance for approval because it was submitted to the county prior to the adoption of those boundaries.


Still, he says it could be a year or longer before the development of Liberty Lake Meadows begins, assuming the project gets local regulatory approval.


Weve got a lot of corn to plow before we can get going on this, he says.


The single-family homes would take up about two-thirds of the southernmost portion of the property, and would be nestled against a hillside away from I-90, the plans show. The duplex units, other multifamily units, and industrial area would be located north of there, closer to the freeway.


The industrial area would support about 3,200 employees, depending on the number of tenants, according to the plans.


This is the second major project disclosed for the Liberty Lake area in the last year. Last fall, a Seattle investment group submitted plans to the county for a big commercial, office, and industrial park on the same side of I-90, but a mile or so west of the proposed Liberty Lake Meadows site.


That project is called Highlands Plaza, and the first phase of the development is expected to get under way this spring. The investment group, Liberty Lake Investments Inc., expects to build on a 198-acre site that once was proposed for a regional shopping center called Liberty Lake Mall, but that project was abandoned years ago.


A huge residential subdivision, called Highlands, is planned for a 592-acre site just south of the plaza property. The 640-home development is expected to occur over about seven years.


Bryan Walker, owner of Tomlinson Black Valley Inc., which is marketing the project, says a deal with a prospective buyer of the development is almost finalized. He declined to name the buyer until a deal is inked.


The commercial, office and industrial complex is expected to be built out over about six years. The first phase will include 50 lots totaling about 130 acres for light-industrial uses on the west side of the development and 39 lots totaling about 68 acres for professional and commercial uses on the east side.