Site Nearly Ready For Industrial Use In/Around: West Plains

The inventory of industrial property on the West Plains is increasing by 74 acres this year.

A developer has nearly finished the planning for 37 lots near the Medical Lake interchange on Interstate 90.

Dick Edwards said he plans to market the property to small manufacturing and distribution businesses that want easy access to the freeway.

The land is also close to downtown and Spokane International Airport.

Many of the typical development issues are being addressed prior to sale. Road access, water, sewer and stormwater disposal will be in place for each parcel.

“All you have to do is get a building permit,” said Edwards, a part-owner of the property as a member of the RCS Partnership.

That would reduce the time lag for putting up a business from as long as two years to as little as six months, he said.

A 70-foot-wide concrete road, especially designed for heavy truck traffic, is being built through the property. It will be dedicated to the county after it opens.

Westbow Road will run between Hallett and Thomas Mallen roads.

Stormwater off the lots is being channeled into a two-acre settling pond at the northeast corner of the property.

Improvements have been added to the access streets and the Medical Lake interchange.

The entire business park will have landscaping that exceeds county requirements.

Edwards said the land costs are about one-third of those for similar industrial property in the Spokane Valley. Also, Inland Power & Light Co. has guaranteed low power rates for purchasers, he said.

One wholesale distributing company has purchased an 11-acre lot and will save about $80,000 a year in power costs, Edwards said.

Industrial growth on the West Plains is part of a long-range governmental plan to encourage geographical balance in the Spokane region.

About a decade ago, the city of Spokane extended water and sewer lines to the West Plains to create new industrial land away from residential areas. Also, the land is not situated above the region’s underground water supply.

“There is room for growth here,” said John Konen, a development consultant with David Evans and Associates Inc., which was hired for the site planning.

Land costs are low enough that a growing company can buy a large parcel for future expansion, Konen said.

Spokane County’s hearing examiner already has approved the site plan.

But Edwards has appealed the size of subsidy being sought by county and state transportation agencies. The developers were ordered to contribute $60,000 to interchange improvements.

Edwards said that figure is too high in view of all of the other public improvements the developers are installing.

Government officials and property owners hope to avoid the bottlenecks that have been building at interchanges in the Spokane Valley.

Property owners south of the interchange already have paid to realign Westbow and Hallett roads to accommodate industrial traffic.

Because fewer people live on the West Plains, the freeway doesn’t back up.

“It’s one of the last free-flowing interchanges left,” Konen said.

Edwards said land northeast of the interchange also is being planned for industrial development. About 300 acres may be opened up in coming years, he said, including about 100 acres under option to Edwards.

Inland Power & Light originally owned the land but has sold in recent years to private developers, including Edwards and two Seattle investors.

, DataTimes