Construction will be starting soon on a new 1.5-acre commercial complex along Ruby Street just over a mile north of downtown Spokane that will include an Advance Auto Parts store. 

Mike Schmitz, of SDS Realty, of Spokane, is marketing the project, which he says is tentatively being called the North Gateway Center.

While Schmitz didn’t yet have an estimated total cost or exact timeline for the project, pre-development documents estimate the construction cost at $700,000.

 Schmitz says the project will be developed on the block between Ruby and Division streets that’s bordered by Ermina Avenue on the south and Montgomery Avenue on the north. He says the development will take up most of the block with the exception of the northwest corner at 2124 N. Division which the Bargain Lot used-car dealership currently occupies.

It will include construction of the 6,900-square-foot Advance Auto Parts and renovation of the former Brock’s Gunsmithing Inc. building at 2104 N. Division at the southwest corner of the block, plus include space for an anticipated future retail building at the northeast corner. 

Schmitz says the property is owned by S&S Ruby LLC, of Spokane, which is acting as its own contractor and intends to develop the property and lease it to new retail tenants. 

He says work already has begun with the demolition of what was an Auto Pro Service Center at the southeast corner of Ruby and Ermina.

“Demolition of the old store is starting now, and construction on a new, Advanced Auto Parts store will follow,” he says.

 Schmitz declines to disclose further details on the Advanced Auto Parts project, other than to say that construction could begin as soon as this fall. 

Of the 5,500-square-foot former Brock’s Gunsmithing building, he says, “That building will be entirely remodeled into a new retail center. We’re not yet certain how many tenants will occupy that space but we anticipate at least three.” He adds that the company doesn’t yet have an estimated cost or timetable for the remodeling work. 

Meanwhile, Schmitz says the vacant lot in the northeast corner is being considered for a future phase of the development, and may eventually be the site of another new retail building, with a parking lot accessible from Montgomery. 

“We’re currently speaking with potential tenants, about the possibility of developing that lot,” he says. “So far it remains a future plan.”