A new AutoZone mega hub store and warehouse is planned to be built directly west of Spokane Valley City Hall. The roughly $3.8 million, 34,000-square-foot retail and large-scale parts storage building will be erected on a vacant lot at 102 S. Dartmouth Road, according to preapplication permit information on file with the city of Spokane Valley.

The undeveloped property is located between Sprague Avenue and Appleway Boulevard, 1,000 feet east of Winco Foods, and 500 feet south of the Spokane Valley Library.

Pulley Studios Inc., a San Francisco-based permit expediting and management startup, is the applicant on preliminary permit information. Allan Renzi, of Cleveland-based Richard L. Bowen & Associates Inc., is the architect. A general contractor and engineering firm is yet to be determined, according to preapplication permit information.

AutoZone didn't respond to requests for comment.

Memphis, Tennessee-based AutoZone Inc. operated 133 mega hub stores throughout the U.S. and eight in Mexico at the end of 2025, according to the company’s 2025 annual report to shareholders. Mega hubs operate as storefronts with expanded inventory assortment and can carry 80,000 to 110,000 units of product. In comparison, an average AutoZone store carries less than 25,000 units of inventory.

Approximately 35 employees will work in the mega hub once completed, according to a State Environmental Policy Act checklist for the proposed project that was submitted by AutoZone in February.

Construction will begin following permit approval, which is expected later this year, and the project is anticipated to wrap up in 2027, according to planning information.

Spokane Valley-based Pring Corp. owns the 4-acre parcel of land, which is designated as a retail and general merchandise zone, Spokane County tax records show. Pring Corp. was founded in 1960 and has developed a number of retail and office properties in the Spokane area, as previously reported in the Journal.

The building will be one story, with 23-foot tall ceilings, and feature a 30-foot-tall pylon sign. The retail side of the property will encompass about 6,000 square feet of space. The warehouse will have 28,000 square feet of space to store vehicle parts for distribution to other regional stores as needed.

Landscaping, including grass and trees, will be planted on any part of the land not occupied by the building, parking lot, or sidewalks.

A new 92-stall parking lot is planned, in addition to a new section of public sidewalk to be installed on the west side of South Dartmouth Road along the eastern border of the property.

Vehicles will be able to access a primary parking lot from Dartmouth Road and Appleway Boulevard, and have additional access from the existing Wells Fargo Bank and AutoNation Volkswagen Spokane parking lots to the north. An average estimate of 365 weekday trips will be generated to the property upon completion of the building.

AutoZone has already opened 24 mega hub facilities in 2025, and the vehicle parts retailer has plans to open 20 additional mega hubs in fiscal year 2026, according to the company’s annual report. A total of 285 mega hubs are planned to be built by AutoZone by 2028.

AutoZone operates two Spokane stores at 2526 N. Division and 7306 N. Division. In Spokane Valley, the retailer operates three locations, at 5005 E. Sprague, 9211 E. Montgomery, and 13911 E. Sprague. An AutoZone store is located at 1415 S. Russell, in Airway Heights, and another is located at 503 S. Main, in Deer Park.

The vehicle parts retailer also is planning a 7,000-square-foot, $1.3 million store at the southwest corner of U.S. Route 94 and Dakota Avenue, at 410 W. Dakota, in Hayden, the Journal previously reported.

Project updates

Coeur d'Alene-based Fatbeam LLC has been contracted to install fiber optic infrastructure in schools in the Mead School District.

The project comes after Fatbeam was awarded a contract by Mead School District to bring fiber optic infrastructure to several district schools and provide district-wide fiber services in March 2025, according to the school district.

Fatbeam will install the fiber optic materials through aerial and underground construction methods, including boring and placing three-way 1.25-inch conduit in underground trenches.

Once complete, the school district will lease the fiber network from Fatbeam. The 10-year network lease will cost $1.4 million. About $833,000 of the total cost is eligible for federal e-rate funding, which helps the district receive discounted rates for internet and other telecommunication services. The total cost to the district over 10 years is $555,700.

Other districts Fatbeam serves in the Inland Northwest include the Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, and Medical Lake school districts, according to the company’s website.