Granite Investments LLC, a Spokane partnership led by prominent developer Dick Vandervert, says it expects to start work next spring on a 30-acre shopping center along the Sunset Highway near Airway Heights.


The planned 161,000-square-foot shopping complex is to be located near the northeast corner of Hayford Road and U.S. 2, about a half mile west and across the highway from Boeing Co.s West Plains plant. Plans call for the center to include a 55,000-square-foot supermarket flanked by about 60,000 square feet of strip retail space, two other retail buildings with an expected combined square footage of about 27,000 square feet, and five other retail pads for envisioned buildings with a combined about 19,000 square feet of floor space.


So far, the only tenant to have committed to the park is a bank, but Granite spokesman and partner Lowell McKee says the development company is confident it will obtain commitments for much of the space in the center within the next two months. He declines to identify the bank because it has yet to file for the regulatory approval required to open a new branch.


Were currently negotiating with the major grocers; one of them will be there, says McKee.


Among the tenants targeted for the center, in addition to a supermarket, are a pet supply store, video store, office supply store, drugstore, auto-parts store, bank, and restaurant.


McKee says a cost estimate for the overall project hasnt been determined yet. The cost of similar-sized projects developed in the Spokane area in recent years, however, typically has been estimated at around $10 million.


The shopping center will be located on a portion of a 141-acre piece of undeveloped land that Granite now controls and is planning to acquire, says McKee. The company expects to develop the remainder of property for a mix of uses, including industrial, commercial, and multifamily housing, depending on demand. The shopping center already is zoned appropriately, but other portions of the overall acreage might need to be rezoned later depending on what uses the company decides to target, he says.


A portion of the land also could be used as an expansion of the 152-acre Pacific Northwest Technology Park, which Granite is developing about a mile to the east near Flint Road and adjoining Spokane International Airport. (See story page A1.)


Granite doesnt control a small piece of property right at the corner of Hayford and U.S. 2, but McKee says he understands the landowner there intends eventually to develop a gas station and convenience store on that property.


He says the shopping center will be strategically located along a busy highway and that new developments like the tech park and the Kalispel Tribe of Indians new casino, located a short distance away on Hayford Road, should make it even more attractive.


Vandervert is no stranger to shopping center development. Through various companies and limited partnerships, he has developed a host of such complexes in the Spokane area, most recently including the Cheney Plaza and Liberty Lake Plaza. His affiliated Vandervert Construction Co. has erected many other retail complexes as well.


McKee says that because of the projects currently slated both at the planned shopping center and the high-technology park down the road, Granite Investments is seeking additional investors.