Seattle-based McKinstry Co. is in the process of buying undeveloped land north of Spokane International Airport, where it intends to build a $5 million fabrication facility for its Spokane operations.

The construction and energy-efficiency contractor’s current fabrication building, at 840 E. Spokane Falls Blvd., will be torn down to make way for a medical school building for the University of Washington School of Medicine-Gonzaga University Regional Health Partnership.

Stephanie Pitts, director of communications at McKinstry, says purchase of the 5-acre parcel near the intersection of U.S. 2 and Hayford Road will likely be completed in July.

Construction on the project was slated to begin June 15, but Pitts says that has been postponed due to the delays attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Spokane office of DCI Engineers is providing engineering services on the project.

The 67,500-square-foot, single-story industrial facility will be built using cross-laminated timber, a wood panel consisting of layers of wood glued together to form sturdy structural panels. Menlo Park, California-based construction, design, and manufacturing company Katerra Inc., which started production at its Spokane Valley CLT manufacturing facility last year, will be the general contractor on the project. 

Katerra’s CLT products will be used in the facility’s construction, Pitts says.

“We like the modular aspect of CLT, being able to construct it quickly using the modular panels,” Pitts says. “At McKinstry, we’re trying to push the boundaries on what we can do and how we can develop buildings and build buildings that are more sustainable, more efficient. We thought this was a great opportunity to keep working on that and see what’s possible.”