Strip Mall Planned For Valley Site Speculation About Tenants Focuses On Elusive Wal-Mart

A vacant parcel of weeds and dust in the Valley may become home to a brand-new strip mall.

According to the Spokane County Planning Department, property developers submitted a preapplication permit last week to break ground for a mall on the northeast corner of Sullivan and Broadway. Zoning department employees said developers would not divulge the quantity or size of the prospective buildings, which would be ringed by existing motels, offices, gas stations and convenience stores.

“It’s still just in the talking stage,” said Lauren Lakshas. “They wouldn’t tell us anything.”

The filing accompanies rumors that the vacant square will be transformed into a strip mall anchored by a discount retailer, said Ray Murphy, executive director of the Valley Chamber of Commerce. Employees and residents in the vicinity also report pervasive rumors about WalMart.

Target, Fred Meyer, Shopko and Kmart already have stores within 2 miles of the lot, leaving Wal-Mart as the most logical target for a developer seeking a discount anchor for a strip mall.

If Wal-Mart decides to build on the land, the company must file for a building permit but does not need to wait for zoning approval. The county approved the site in the early ‘90s for use as a shopping center with a discount retailer as anchor, according to county records.

Officials at Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., say Wal-Mart has no records of purchasing or leasing land in Spokane or Spokane County. However, a spokesman added that the company is notoriously tight-lipped about prospective site plans.

“We don’t disclose plans until all the permits and zoning ordinances are approved,” said Keith Morris of Wal-Mart public relations.

Wal-Mart has been expanding in the Inland Northwest since the early ‘90s, opening stores in Kennewick, Wenatchee, Colville and Omak, Wash., and Moscow, Idaho. Since then, rumors have floated that WalMart is checking out sites in Ellensburg, Post Falls, Walla Walla and Coeur d’Alene.

With well over 2,000 stores in 50 states and Puerto Rico, Wal-Mart has watched sales increase almost 30 percent per year for the past seven years. It is the nation’s largest retailer.

Metropolitan Mortgage Co. owns the land where the strip mall would be. Paul Sandifur Jr., president and chief executive officer of Metropolitan, said Wednesday was the first he heard of Wal-Mart gossip.

“This is a most interesting rumor. I don’t know anything about this,” he said.

Metropolitan Mortgage has been in the midst of preplanning conferences to determine site plans, but the company hasn’t specified tenants or architectural plans, Sandifur said.

“All I know is that we want to sell it,” he said.

Wal-Mart typically builds 50,000- to 150,000-square foot stores that feature a garden center, jewelry store, shoe department and pharmacy. Most stores employ about 200.

, DataTimes