Sherman Enterprises, of Hayden, Idaho, says it hopes to build a nine-acre shopping center as part of a 32-acre development it plans at the southeast corner of U.S. 95 and state Route 54, at Athol, Idaho, as early as next year.


Developer Larry Sherman, owner of Sherman Enterprises, says the center is expected to be anchored by a supermarket and to have several other retail spaces and pad sites on which businesses can build free-standing buildings. He says he currently is negotiating with grocery chains that are interested in opening the supermarket planned in the center. A number of franchise-type retailers also have shown interest in the development, he says.


In addition to the shopping center, plans for the rest of the 32-acre development, which is to be called Silver Village, include a site for a motel and a mini-storage facility, Sherman says.


He says he doesnt expect any work to begin on the shopping center until at least next year. Before work can begin, a county land-use designation for the 32-acre parcel must be amended to commercial from rural. Then, the property will have to be rezoned.


Sherman says he got involved in the project about eight months ago when Sherman Enterprises was asked by Panhandle Resources, a Coeur dAlene-based development company, to develop the shopping center. Later, Sherman Enterprises decided to buy the 32-acre parcel from Panhandle Resources and take over the project.


Panhandle Resources originally had planned also to develop a 100-acre parcel at the northeast corner of U.S. 95 and state Route 54, across Route 54 north of the site Sherman Enterprises plans to develop, into a commercial and residential development, Sherman says. Those plans, however, have run up against opposition from the city of Athol, a county planner says. Even though Sherman Enterprises became involved in the 32-acre project, Sherman says that he doesnt have any plans at this point to take on that additional project.


Panhandle Resources, which still has an option to buy the 100-acre parcel at the northeast corner, has asked Kootenai County to amend its comprehensive land-use map from rural to high-density residential and commercial on the entire 132 acres in both sites. The amendment was expected to go before the Kootenai County Planning Commission earlier this week.