Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the giant Bentonville, Ark.-based retail chain, says it plans to start construction soon on a 160,000-square-foot supercenter in Spokane Valley.

Building permit information at the city of Spokane Valley estimates construction cost at $11.6 million.

The store, which is expected to open at 5025 E. Sprague within 14 months, will hire about 300 associates, with the majority having full-time positions, says Jennifer Spall, a Bellevue, Wash.-based Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

The retailer will open a hiring center about 90 days before the store's grand opening, Spall says.

McAlvain Construction Inc., of Boise, is the contractor on the project, and BCRA Inc., a Tacoma-based architectural company, designed it.

The Spokane Valley office of Denver-based CLC Associates Inc. is the consulting engineer on the project.

Wal-Mart says several local subcontractors will work on the project, including Piersol Construction Inc., of Airway Heights, which will handle the earthwork at the site.

The supercenter will include a full-service grocery section with fresh produce, an in-store pharmacy, general retail merchandise, a Subway sandwich restaurant, and a 4,700-square-foot garden center with a fenced outdoor sales area, Spall says.

Wal-Mart, which bought the site just west of a 148,000-square-foot Costco Wholesale Corp. membership warehouse outlet in 2006, originally had said it planned to build a Sam's Club outlet there. Sam's Club is Wal-Mart's brand of membership warehouse stores.

The company had also proposed a Sam's Club store on Spokane's North Side. It later cancelled the North Side plans and last year decided to pursue plans for a retail store on Sprague.

The new Walmart will be the second in Spokane Valley. The first Valley Walmart, which opened in 1997, is located in the Spokane Valley Plaza, at 15727 E. Broadway, almost nine miles to the east of the planned store.

Wal-Mart's three other Spokane County stores are located in the Shadle Center, at 2301 W. Wellesley; in the Cross Pointe Plaza, at 1221 S. Hayford on the West Plains; and near the Division Street "Y," at 9212 N. Colton.

Wal-Mart operates nine other stores in seven Eastern Washington and North Idaho counties, and more than 4,400 retail outlets throughout the U.S.