The Dirt: Lighting business’s new office rising on Third near University District

A $1.3 million office and warehouse is going up at 413 E. Third Ave., just west of its intersection with Sherman Street. The 10,000-square-foot structure will house the corporate office of JC Wright Lighting, founded in 1976 in Spokane by Jim Wright.

Rock on 3rd LLC, which is controlled by Doug Wright, Jim’s son who also owns the lighting business, purchased the 1.2 acres for $750,000 in November 2016, according to county parcel data.

The property stretches between Second and Third avenues. Plans show a surface parking lot on Third, with the two-story office building perched on a bluff of basalt overlooking Second and facing north toward the location of the University District Gateway Bridge. The bridge is under construction three blocks away. The lighting business’s offices will be between the Alpine Deli and Arc of Spokane.

The company, currently at 5111 E. Trent Ave., represents more than 70 lighting and lighting-control manufacturers. Notable projects include lighting at the Davenport Grand Hotel and Kalispel Golf and Country Club in Spokane. The company also lit the Kadlec Parking Garage in the Tri-Cities and McEuen Park in Coeur d’Alene.

Spokane-based Wolfe Architectural Group designed the project. DCI Engineers, of Seattle, is the structural engineer.

New drive-thru coffee set for Northwest Blvd.

A $225,000 remodel of the former Albertson’s gas station on Northwest Boulevard will house a drive-thru coffee shop.

Wake Up Coffee, a chain that began in Spokane Valley, will open its eighth location in the abandoned convenience store, which will have two drive-thru windows and a lobby for walk-in service and seating.

The 1,200-square-foot building won’t have the same look as the coffee purveyor’s other locations, notable for their telephone booth-inspired entrances.

“It’s really quite different,” said Matt Sprott, an architect with Studio Called Make, which designed the renovation and is changing its name to TREK Architecture. “It’s a sleek, more modern look.”

Sprott said the new location is expected to be open by the end of the year.

DCI Enginners, of Seattle, did the structural engineering.

Jamba Juice coming to Spokane Valley Mall

The Spokane area’s first stand-alone Jamba Juice is coming this November to the Spokane Valley Mall.

The Texas-based chain has more than 800 locations nationwide, as well as stores in South Korea, the Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Taiwan and Thailand. The Safeway in Shadle Park, 2507 W. Wellesley Ave., has a Jamba Juice inside the store.

There are 10 Jamba Juice locations in Idaho – primarily in the southern part of the state – including one in Coeur d’Alene at 202 W. Ironwood Drive in Ironwood Square.

The Valley location is being developed by Jamba Juices’ franshise partner, LoKo Blending Valley LLC.