Prominent North Idaho homebuilder Viking Construction Inc. has started work on a $7.4 million, 70-unit apartment complex in northwest Coeur d'Alene, says Scott Krajack, an executive with Viking Construction.

The project site for the complex, to be called Fairway Meadows Apartments, is on the west side of Ramsey Road, a block north of Kathleen Avenue.

Fairway Meadows Apartments will consist of seven two-story buildings, each with 10 units, Krajack says.

"We're pulling permits one building at a time," Krajack says.

Hayden-based Viking Construction has completed foundation work on the first of the structures and has started on the second. Living units in the first building will be ready to occupy in January, and subsequent buildings are expected to be completed every three weeks for the remainder of the project, he says.

The Seattle office of Texas-based Humphreys & Partners Architects LP designed the project, and Whipple Consulting Engineers Inc., of Spokane Valley, is the civil engineer.

The complex will have one-, two-, and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 700 to 1,700 square feet of living space. One large ground-floor unit will be set aside and configured as an office and clubhouse area, Krajack says.

NuVu Property Management LLC, of Hayden, will manage leases for the complex.

Krajack says rents are still being set, but they will be at middle to upper market rates.

"The units will have 9-foot ceilings and amenities nicer than average, run-of-the-mill apartments," he says. Eight units in each structure will have attached one-car garages, and the rest will have two-car garages, all of which will be accessible from within their respective units, he says.

Viking Construction is predominantly a single-family homebuilder, having built more than 3,000 homes in the Inland Northwest since 1980. The company's main focus is construction in master-planned communities with home prices generally ranging from $115,000 to $350,000.

Such developments include the Village at Syringa Gardens, a 70-lot gated retirement community in Post Falls, and Traditions, a 200-lot subdivision in Airway Heights.

Fairway Meadows Apartments will be the company's second apartment development. Viking Construction developed Greensferry Landing, a 66-unit apartment complex in Post Falls.

Krajack says Viking Construction owns at least two other potential apartment sites that the company might develop within the next five years.

"As mortgage interest rates tick up, we'll see demand for apartments continue, because more people will be priced out of the homebuyer market," he says.