Construction of a new North 40 Outfitters store in the Mead area is well underway, and the store is expected to open this year, says Dave Black, a Spokane real estate developer connected with the project.

The site for the 113,400-square-foot farm-and-ranch retail store is near the northwest corner of Newport Highway and Highland Road.

The construction cost for the new store is estimated at $22 million, according to information from the building permit, which was issued in July.

Coeur d’Alene-based Young Construction Group of Idaho Inc. is the contractor on the project, and H2A Architects PA, also of Coeur d’Alene, designed it. The companies also served as the contractor and architect, respectively, on the West Plains North 40 project that opened in late 2021 at 9646 U.S. 2.

Black, CEO of Spokane-based commercial real estate brokerage NAI Black, says the store will anchor a retail development named North 40 Retail Center. He says he and NAI Black managing broker Chris Bell are developing the center, and Black Enterprises and a North 40 affiliate jointly own the property where the store will be located.

In addition to the anchor store, the retail center is expected to include four other buildings with a potential tenant mix of restaurants, banks, convenience stores, and medical practices.

Black says he and Bell are in early talks with a couple of potential tenants who he declines to name.

The project is about a half-mile south of the current 55,600-square-foot North 40 store at 15228 N. Newport Highway that it will replace.

The new store is expected to employ about 95 people, which is about 30 more than the current Mead store employs.

In addition to the Mead and West Plains locations, Great Falls, Montana-based North 40, which is incorporated as CSWW Inc., operates stores in Spokane Valley, at 8307 E. Trent, and in Coeur d’Alene, at 170 E. Kathleen.

—Mike McLean