Albertsons Inc., of Boise, has decided to put off building a 57,000-square-foot supermarket at Mount Spokane Plaza, a shopping center planned for the Mead area, delaying other plans there, Spokane developer Joe Stanek says.


It isnt a question of whether or not (Albertsons) is going to go ahead, its a question of when, says Stanek, who plans to develop the 144,000-square-foot retail center with family members through a company theyve formed called Lincoln Partners LLC.


Albertsons decision has led two other planned occupants of the center, Washington Trust Bank and Altons Tire Centers, both of Spokane, to put their plans to build new outlets on hold, Stanek says. Lincoln Partners, which plans to build two retail structures there, also wont go ahead with its plans for now.


Stanek says Albertsons told him it was delaying construction of the Mead store while it concentrates on projects in other areas, but work on the supermarket still could start this spring. Albertsons has obtained a building permit for the project, he says, and has selected Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, to build it.


Albertsons representatives couldnt be reached for comment, however, so it isnt clear when the big supermarket chain would start building the store.


Site work started last spring at the Mount Spokane Plaza site, which includes a total of 20 acres at the northwest corner of U.S. 2 and Mount Spokane Park Drive. Plans initially called for retail buildings to start going up there last September.


Since then, however, a Yokes Washington Foods Inc. supermarket has gone up at the southeast corner of Market Street and Mount Spokane Park Drive and is scheduled to open next month, and a United Security Bank branch has opened just west of there.


Lea Werner, a Washington Trust spokeswoman, says the Albertsons construction delay played a big part in the banks decision to delay its plans to build a 3,000-square-foot branch there, and the bank doesnt automatically plan to restart its project when Albertsons begins construction.


Werner says, however, Were not ruling it out. We still think that will be a great area at some time in the future. We still feel the area has a lot of growth potential.


Lincoln Partners will wait for Albertsons to move forward before proceeding with construction of two 8,000-square-foot buildings that would flank the supermarket, Stanek says.


Lincoln Partners and Washington Trust Bank had been far along on plans to build structures there when Albertsons decided to put its construction plans on hold. Lincoln Partners had selected Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, to build its two structures, which are expected to cost about $1 million. Washington Trust Bank had put its project out to bid, but hadnt selected a contractor yet, Werner says.