An Ace Hardware store is slated to take a former Jones Pharmacy & Home Health Care space in a South Hill retail center anchored by a Huckleberry's Natural Market.

EaglePointe Construction & Management Inc. owner David Shea says the company is under way on an about $800,000 remodel of the former pharmacy, located at 926 S. Monroe. Shea says the work is expected to be completed this summer and also includes some exterior building facade improvements for nearby tenants that will blend the retail center's overall appearance. The Huckleberry's store exterior isn't part of this project, he says.

Mitchell Hardware Inc., a Tacoma-based hardware retailer, will own and operate the new Ace outlet. The company's owner, Bob Mitchell, says this store is one of two in development, with the other in Bend, Ore. Mitchell Hardware currently operates hardware stores in Tacoma, south Seattle, and Bend.

Ace Hardware will occupy a little more than 13,000 square feet of floor space on the main floor and lower level, while a 2,200-square-foot second floor is being retrofitted separately as leasable office space, Shea says. No tenant has been secured yet for the office space, he says.

Ace Hardware also will have a covered, 2,500-square-foot garden area next to the building, Mitchell says.

Mitchell says the store will employ eight full-time and six part-time workers when it opens, which he says will be sometime this summer.

"I've always felt there was demand on that side of the South Hill," says Mitchell. "My wife is from Spokane, so I travel to Spokane a lot. I always thought that was a great area, and when I saw that building was available, I was interested immediately because there is a great demand for a hardware store in that area."

He says he thinks there is an opportunity for additional Ace Hardware locations in Spokane.

EaglePointe started work at the site this past fall for asbestos removal, but the interior demolition and remodeling work started around the first of this year, Shea says.

He says David Peterson, of Goodale & Barbieri Co., was the leasing agent. LDG Architects, of Seattle, designed the building, while the Spokane office of DCI Engineers handled structural engineering.

The owner of the property is 10th and Monroe LLC, Shea says.