STCU, the Spokane area’s largest credit union, says it will develop a freestanding branch in the new Hayford Crossing retail plaza at the southwest corner of U.S. 2 and Hayford Road in Airway Heights, with construction to start this fall and the branch to open next year.

Similar in size to other branch buildings it has developed in recent years, the branch will have about 3,800 square feet of space and will include drive-through services, says Dan Hansen, the credit union’s media and communications manager.

It will be located near the corner of the intersection and will be staffed by at least five employees, Hansen says. Bernardo|Wills Architects PC, of Spokane, designed the branch, and Meridian Construction Inc., of Spokane, Valley, which is the contractor for the overall Hayford Crossing development, will build it, he says.

Separately, the credit union just opened a new Qualchan branch at 4233 S. Cheney-Spokane Road, plans to move its downtown Spokane branch to the River Park Square shopping mall in October, and says it will open a downtown Coeur d’Alene branch in late 2016.

When those projects are completed, STCU will have 21 branch locations, including five in North Idaho. Tom Johnson, the credit union’s president and CEO, says branch visits are increasing, even as credit union members conduct more transaction via online banking and the STCU mobile app.

Hansen says the credit union has been experiencing “significant” membership growth, and that it should reach 600 employees overall when all current positions are filled.

On the West Plains, West Partners LLC is developing the 56,000-square-foot Hayford Crossing retail plaza where the new STCU branch will be located. Mark D’Agostino, a principal in West Partners and president of Meridian Construction, told the Journal earlier this year that other planned tenants there include Grocery Outlet, Dollar Tree, and Supercuts. A Pawn 1 store is scheduled to open there Friday (Aug. 12), and a Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwich restaurant also is expected to be among the first tenants to open for business in the development.

STCU announced last year that its 16-year-old downtown branch will move from the Crescent Court to new space being constructed on the street and skywalk levels of River Park Square, facing Wall Street and next to the planned Urban Outfitters store at Main Avenue and Wall. Spokane-based Rocket Bakery will join the credit union by opening a store there as well.

The credit union announced plans for the Coeur d’Alene branch in June, and said the new branch will occupy a former Bank of America branch space at 401 Front Ave., with a view of the city’s McEuen Park. It said the 3,600-square-foot branch will be similar in size to the STCU Crossroads branch in Coeur d’Alene, which opened in 2015.