Five Mile development will add beer, pizza
Cedar Crossing project also features housing
A commercial and residential development in north Spokane’s Five Mile area will introduce a new craft brewery and an artisan pizzeria, each operated by Spokane food business veterans.
The two businesses will be Waddell’s Brew Pub and Grille, owned by Michael Noble, and the Boiler Room, operated by Matt Goodwin.
They’re the first two businesses moving into the five-acre Cedar Crossing project near the intersection of Francis Avenue and Cedar Street.
The developers of Cedar Crossing are Gib Brumback and his son, Nick Brumback. In addition to four eventual commercial buildings, Cedar Crossing will include 36 apartments in four buildings, Brumback said.
The two buildings housing Noble’s and Goodwin’s businesses will be roughly 30 to 40 yards apart. Both expect to move in by this fall, Brumback said.
Noble has operated Waddell’s Neighborhood Pub and Grille on Spokane’s South Hill since 2008. It will stay open and eventually serve beers made at Waddell’s Brewing at the North Side location.
The new brewery and pub will satisfy two groups, Noble said: those wondering when he’d open a north Spokane location, and when he would introduce his own craft beers.
“Our customers thought we had our own craft beers, but we didn’t have the space you need to do that kind of brewing,” he said.
The brewery will start producing five original beers and a seasonal special. Noble said he expects to hire about 35 employees.
Goodwin has been part owner of three restaurants in Spokane: the Marquee Lounge, Press Public House and Fast Eddie’s.
His new eatery will serve gourmet pizza and offer a cocktail lounge, Goodwin said. The Boiler Room will serve some of the Waddell’s beers as well.
Noble and Goodwin both said the Five Mile area needs more food and entertainment options.
They each agreed with Brumback’s contention that the Five Mile area has one of the highest incomes per capita in Spokane County.
“The highest (per-capita) income is in Liberty Lake,” Brumback said, but that community has fewer people than the northwest side of Spokane, he added.
Census Bureau data show the average household income in a three-mile radius from the development is more than $47,000, Brumback said.
Spokane-based Hissong Design Group is designing a modern boiler-room feeling for Goodwin’s restaurant. Goodwin said the restaurant will hire roughly 25 workers.