A long-vacant commercial space adjoining the 13-story Ridpath Club Apartments is being overhauled to fill a void left by another retail establishment that closed in the downtown core in the past year.

Most notably, a small grocery store is planned in the two-level, 16,000-square-foot building at 501 W. Sprague, at the southwest corner of Sprague Avenue and Stevens Street. Samere Kentiba, who co-owns the building through Weownitall Inc., says Downtown Grocery III is opening this week to fill an oft-discussed void in the core, exacerbated by the closure of Rite Aid Corp.'s retail space, at 112 N. Howard, last December. 

Updates to the space began in late August, about a month after Weownitall purchased the commercial site. The transaction price was $700,000, according to Washington state tax records.

"We like downtown and want it to be very vibrant," says Kentiba. "We put a lot of investment here according to what the people of the area needed." 

Kentiba plans to start two other businesses at the site. A laundromat is scheduled to open by year-end, and the opening of a beer, wine, and liquor market is pending Washington state liquor license approval. 

Kentiba's goal is to create a one-stop shop for customers that will generate multiple revenue streams for the company, he says.

The three businesses will be located on the ground floor, which holds 8,100 square feet of retail space. The remaining 7,900 square feet of space in the basement level will be used for storage purposes.

The grocery store is intended to offer downtown workers, visitors, and other patrons access to a range of food and other grocery items, says Kentiba.

"Our plan for that store is to make it an affordable grocery store, not a quick-stop store," he says. "We're selling all of our groceries at a very low price, so the beer, liquor, and wine section will boost our margins."

Tenant improvements were made by the owner and cost an estimated $150,000 to update the site, he says. Renovations included repairs to a leaking roof, new commercial air conditioners, and updated flooring, paint, tile, and electrical systems throughout the space. 

The exterior of the property is being updated with new signage and paint.

Each business will have its own entrance on Sprague, Kentiba adds.

Ten to 11 employees will be hired to work at the property once all three stores are up and running.

"Each section is going to need many employees for morning shift, afternoon shift, and the night shift," he says.

To start, the grocery store's operating hours will run from 11 a.m. to midnight, but eventually the store and the laundromat both are expected to be open 24/7.

To address safety concerns at the building, Kentiba has contracted with Spokane-based Metro Protection Services LLC to patrol the area and also maintain a presence inside the store multiple times a day.

"There's so much going on on the street. We want to take the burden off of the police," he says of the decision to hire private security. "We wanted to make it clean and bring back this block in downtown, like how it used to be. We can play some part (in that)."