Airway Heights has been waiting longer than some neighborhoods and outlying communities here to reap the benefits of a strengthening economy, so it’s encouraging to see the buzz of development activity that appears to be building there now.

As Journal reporter Mike McLean outlined in a recent front page story, the oft-overlooked city west of Spokane is becoming a focal point for commercial growth, with tens of millions of dollars’ worth of projects planned or underway there.

Those projects don’t include the sizable, but controversial casino-resort development being proposed by the Spokane Tribe of Indians for a 145-acre site on the west side of the city. That project must receive approval from Washington Gov. Jay Inslee before it can move forward.

Albert Tripp, Airway Heights city manager, told the Journal that city planners are busy handling a recent spate of commercial projects and that the city has seen a sharp increase in commercial interest just in the last six to eight months.

One example of the activity taking place there is a newly proposed complex which would be developed on a 6-acre parcel of land at the southwest corner of the increasingly busy intersection of Hayford Road and U.S. 2. Tentatively named West Plains Plaza, it’s envisioned to be a $4 million, six-building center with 54,500 square feet of retail and office space.

Across U.S. 2, a commercial construction project is underway at Centerpointe Plaza, which is anchored by a Walmart store at the northeast corner of the intersection. Vandervert Developments LLC is erecting a multitenant retail building that’s expected to accommodate up to seven tenants.

Meanwhile, construction is nearly completed at the new Exotic Metals Forming Co. manufacturing plant near McFarlane Road and Lawson Street. The 150,000-square-foot plant being developed at a cost of about $25 million is expected to provide employment for 150 people.

Also on the industrial side, Seattle-based Seaport Steel is reported to be nearly finished with a $6.9 million, 60,000-square-foot building at its satellite facility along Hayden Road. The project includes constructing a half-mile extension of a railroad spur and is expected to generate 20 new jobs, Greater Spokane Incorporated has said.

In another project, Exeter, Pa.-based Keystone Automotive Operations Inc. is getting ready to occupy its new 250,000-square-foot distribution center on Hallett Road that’s expected to employ 60 people. 

To be sure, developer interest in much of the developable West Plains land near Airway Heights remains disappointingly lackluster, and Airway Heights no doubt owes much of its health to the stalwart presence of nearby Fairchild Air Force Base.

Still, that “bedroom community” has experienced by far the fastest population growth, percentagewise, of any community in the county in this new millennium, growing from 4,500 people in 2000 to nearly 8,000 last year. Given all of that, it’s easy to see how the humble hamlet could evolve into a driving force for growth beyond its borders.