Seattle-based contractor and energy-efficient systems manufacturer McKinstry Co. is planning a second prefabrication building on the West Plains that’s expected to double the company’s fabrication capacity in Spokane County. 

The new 95,000-square-foot fabrication building will be built at 9610 W. 21st, immediately adjacent to and west of McKinstry’s existing 68,000-square-foot building at 9470 W. 21st, roughly a mile north of Spokane International Airport, according to predevelopment permit information on file with the city of Spokane.

The new facility will fabricate products including plumbing and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems for use in McKinstry’s commercial construction projects nationwide, says Nick Wilkes, business unit manager for McKinstry’s fabrication shop network. Parts produced at the new production center will be shipped to job sites prefabricated, reducing project costs and time.

“(We're) doubling down on our current investment in the Spokane market to help serve our legacy construction line of business,” explains Wilkes. “This is all prefabrication that then goes to be installed to help construct buildings in a safer, faster, higher quality, more controlled environment.”

The company built its existing fabrication facility in 2023.

Spokane-based Press Architecture LLC is listed as the architectural firm on preliminary permit information. The Spokane office of Seattle-based DCI Engineers Inc. created the site plan for the project. A contractor for the new development isn't currently listed on permit information.

The estimated cost is still to be determined, Wilkes says, adding that he estimates the new production facility to cost millions to develop.

“We obviously have our Seattle, long-term western Washington headquarters, but this signifies McKinstry going all in on Spokane as a secondary headquarters and regional innovation hub for manufacturing and prefabrication,” he says. 

McKinstry will hire close to 100 skilled workers to staff the new facility. The company currently employs about 100 full-time workers at its existing fabrication building.

“Overall, (we’re doubling) labor requirements in the new facility and all the things that come with that, like capital expenditure and machines that will go in,” he says.

The preconstruction and design phase is expected to last through the remainder of the year. The company anticipates an expected completion of the facility in 2027, Wilkes says.

McKinstry has planned for the prefabrication facility and subsequent expansion since 2020.

“We've had this land for a bit, and this move is tightly woven into McKinstry’s long term strategy for the Spokane market to be a significant presence for us,” says Wilkes.

The first phase of construction work is expected to begin in the summer and will include site work and the building shell. The second phase of construction will include focus on interior updates, including the installation of plumbing fixtures and office space, Wilkes explains.

“In these same facilities, this is a nice landing home for some of our construction operations groups to supply product to job sites as well,” he says. “(It’s) not only prefabrication, but this is also a nice operations center for our Spokane-market construction projects with some storage, office space, uses like that.

McKinstry employs more than 600 people in Spokane County. The majority of employees work in the company's fabrication facility or its off-site manufacturing facility at 10015 W. Hallett Road, south of the airport, Wilkes says.

McKinstry manufactures modular products for thermal applications, including cooling plants for artificial intelligence-focused data centers, that are sold to clients and are separate from the company’s legacy commercial construction and contracting efforts, he explains.

In addition to the development of a new production facility, the company is also expanding its off-site manufacturing footprint and has leased a separate building on Hallett Road, adjacent to its existing manufacturing facility, which opened last year, says Elise Harrell, communications specialist at McKinstry Co. 

McKinstry has hired about 150 employees to staff the existing prefabrication and off-site manufacturing facilities in 2025, the Journal previously reported, and the company plans to grow about 10% year over year in Spokane County.

The newly leased building will double the company's off-site manufacturing capacity in Spokane County. 

“Spokane really is an innovation hub for us," Harrell says. "It just goes to show how much growth opportunity and demand there is there, and we're just trying to keep up with it.”

McKinstry is currently working on completing the interior of the leased property, she says.

Since 2000, the company has invested more than $200 million in real estate development projects in Spokane, including its off-site manufacturing building, its prefabrication building, and the development of the Catalyst Building at 601 E. Riverside, in Spokane's University District.