The owner of the big Northpointe Plaza shopping center plans to remodel a vacant restaurant space for a new Black Jack Buffet Inc. restaurant. The company also will subdivide and renovate a former Linens 'n Things space to accommodate an earlier announced new Big Lots store and an as yet unnamed tenant, building permit information from the city of Spokane shows.

The Black Jack Buffet restaurant is expected to occupy 10,000 square feet of space formerly occupied by a Granny's Old Country Buffet, at 9606 N. Newport Highway, plans show.

The building permit application for the buffet was filed by Spokane Restaurant Equipment Inc., which is listed as the contractor for Inland Western Spokane Northpointe LLC, a subsidiary of Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust Inc., which owns and manages the 378,000-square-foot shopping center on Spokane's North Side.

The planned buffet is listed on Inland Western's Web site as a tenant at Northpointe Plaza. Mike Schneider, owner of Spokane Restaurant Equipment, says plans call for all new equipment, furniture, and fixtures throughout the restaurant. In addition to standard buffet fare, the restaurant will have a sushi bar and a grill in the main floor area. A large fountain is planned near the entrance, Schneider says.

Schneider declines to disclose the cost of the improvements, but says he plans to meet with Black Jack Buffet principals soon to finalize the scope of the project, which will take at least three months to complete.

Joel Cunningham, a spokesman for Inland Western, says the company declines to comment about the plans, because the lease negotiations aren't complete. Black Jack Buffet Inc. is based in Tumwater, Wash., building permit information says. Cong Lin, a principal in the company, couldn't be reached for comment.

Granny's Old Country Buffet closed at Northpointe Plaza following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by its parent company, Eagan, Minn.-based Buffets Holdings Inc.

Other restaurant tenants at the shopping center include the recently opened Olive Garden, Shakey's Pizza Parlor, Red Robin Burgers & Spirits Emporium, Applebee's Neighborhood Grill, and Azteca Mexican Restaurant.

Inland Western has applied for a building permit to divide and remodel the 35,700-square-foot former Linens 'n Things space, located just west of the planned Black Jack restaurant. Inland Western announced in November that Big Lots, a Columbus, Ohio-based closeout retailer, had leased 30,000 square feet of that space.

Inland Western plans to partition the remaining 5,700 square feet of space and have it available to lease.

Linen 'n Things closed its retail outlets in 2009 and moved to online sales only.

Skyward Construction Inc., of Ridgefield, Wash., is listed as the contractor on the Big Lots project, and Bernardo Wills Architects PC, of Spokane, designed it.