Mall Developer Gets Building Permits

Representatives from JP Realty picked up building permits for its proposed Spokane Valley Mall last week, deleting doubts about whether the company will build the megamall.

“To me that’s confirmation,” said Steve Hasson, Spokane County commissioner. “Until they came in for building permits, it was a lot of lip service.”

A July announcement that The Bon Marche would anchor the proposed 100-store mall ended years of vacillation by Price Development Corp. and affiliate JP Realty. The Salt Lake City-based companies have announced mall construction three times in the past five years.

Sears also has announced plans for a store in the new mall. Other likely anchor stores are J.C. Penney, Lamont’s and Mervyn’s.

The “big issue” to be handled regarding the Spokane Valley Mall is traffic, said Spokane County Building Director Jim Manson. “Improvements will be required from a traffic standpoint,” he said.

At the top of the list of likely improvements is a new highway interchange at Evergreen and I-90, which should be built in 1997 or 1998, Hasson said. The new mall is due to open in August 1997.

, DataTimes