North ID Projects Hold Spotlight

Some observers of the struggling construction industry are seeing glimmers of hope in an unsettled economy as highly anticipated projects, such as two new retail megastores in Kootenai County are nearly ready to get rolling. Also work on a big community center in Coeur d’Alene should be completed in about two months.

"Some people are moving forward with projects, but for the most part, 2009 is going to be a slow year," says Dani Bielec-Kramer, a real estate agent who specializes in commercial leasing with Coldwell Banker Commercial Schneidmiller Realty, of Coeur d’Alene.

Bielec-Kramer notes that commercial construction volume was down 45 percent in 2008 compared with 2007, while total building permit volume was down 39 percent. "Coeur d’Alene has a lot of smaller retail spaces that are vacant now," she says, adding, "We’re not going to see a lot of new development."

Yet, some notable projects are coming through the pipeline, Bielec-Kramer says. "Wal-Mart is probably one of the only big retail stores that’s doing well in this economy," she says.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has submitted building plans to the cities of Post Falls and Hayden for a new outlet in each city. The city of Hayden expects to issue a building permit within six weeks for a 213,000-square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter that’s to be located at the southwest corner of U.S. 95 and Honeysuckle Avenue, says Lisa Key, Hayden’s community development director.

Wal-Mart has listed the value of the Hayden project at $8 million, but Keys says the value likely will be recalculated before the permit is issued. "That $8 million guess seems low for a building of that size," she says.

Wal-Mart’s Post Falls plans call for a 150,000-square-foot outlet east of the Cabela’s Inc. sporting goods store at the Pointe at Post Falls. The building design would allow the structure to be expanded on one side in the future, says Russell Cornell, a city building official. Cornell says a building permit might be issued by mid-May. He says he hasn’t yet calculated the value of the proposed structure. Both Wal-Mart projects were designed by BRR Architecture Inc., of Merriam, Kan. No contractor has been selected yet for either project.

In Coeur d’Alene, the much anticipated Salvation Army Coeur d’Alene Ray & Joan Kroc Com-munity Center is expected to be completed in May. Construction started in July 2007 on the $38.7 million, 123,000-square-foot complex at the northwest corner of Atlas and Golf Course roads, a few blocks north of Interstate 90.

The complex will include an aquatic center, an indoor track, a chapel and performing arts theater, and other facilities. Robert B. Goebel General Contractor Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project. Miller Stauffer Architects, PA, of Coeur d’Alene; Architects West PA, of Coeur d’Alene; and Denver-based Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture designed it.

Kootenai Health, the Coeur d’Alene-based hospital system that operates Kootenai Medical Center, is in the design phase of a $30 million, three-story Kootenai Health Women’s and Children’s Center, which is planned to be located on the east side of the main hospital campus. The campus is located at the northwest corner of U.S. 95 and Ironwood Drive. Bouten Construction Co., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project; NAC/Architecture, of Spokane, designed it.

Excerpt from "Big North Idaho Projects Hold Spotlight Amid Slowdown"
by Mike McLean
The Spokane Journal of Business