Delayed By Developer’s Death, Redwood Plaza Now Opening

Tenants have begun to fill the new Redwood Plaza office building.

The opening of the $5 million building was delayed due to the death of developer Hank Grinalds. Grinalds, 67, died in July while the building was being completed.

The 75,000-square foot office building at 11707 E. Sprague is still owned by the Grinalds estate.

Wadell & Reed, a financial planning company, and Northwest Mortgage Directors moved into Redwood Plaza in September, said Gary McWilliams of 1st Real Estate Services. McWilliams is handling the leasing of Redwood Plaza spaces.

An international company that McWilliams would not identify plans to lease 11,000 square feet of space there, he said. McWilliams said there are also plans for an upscale sandwich and espresso shop.

Plans for a basement recreational facility, featuring a gym and computerized golf range simulator, have been put off for now.

One of the executors of Grinalds’ will, Valley attorney Robert McKanna, said the beneficiaries of the developer’s estate include the Valley Hospital Foundation, Valley Rotary Club, Northwest Christian School and Whitworth College. Provisions were also made for family members, he said.

McWilliams said the building is now basically completed. Individual spaces are being custom finished for tenants.

Grinalds’ original plans for a basement recreational area will be considered when all estate matters are settled and more spaces are leased.

“His early demise left us scrambling to put the pieces together,” McWilliams said. “We’d like to (put in those facilities), because that’s what Hank wanted.”

Great Clips opens

Great Clips, a Minneapolis-based haircut franchise, opened a new shop at 13222 E. Sprague. It is the first tenant of Valley Plaza, a new retail center just west of the ShopKo store on East Sprague.

No one at Tombari Properties, the project’s developer, returned calls regarding the number of spaces up for lease. The building appears as if it could accommodate three more tenants.

The Valley Great Clips is owned by Bob Douthitt, who also owns one South Hill and two North Side shops. He said the business offers family haircut and perm services on a walk-in basis.

“Our objective is to be able to let people have wait times under 20 minutes,” Douthitt said.

He said there are about 600 Great Clips stores across the Midwest and West Coast. The chain first opened stores on the West Coast in 1992.

For Pete’s sake

Pete’s Pizza, long a fixture in the Gonzaga University neighborhood, has opened a restaurant at 18219 E. Appleway in Greenacres.

Owner Jon Duncan said one of the best parts about the new Pete’s is having Valley customers who once attended GU stop in. “All the folks are real happy to see us,” he said.

Duncan said he opened a Pete’s in the Valley because “it’s gorgeous out here, (and) it’s ever expanding.”

He said the market here isn’t yet saturated with pizza vendors, either.

Pete’s is widely known for its slowcooked calzones. “We’re a specialty shop,” Duncan said. “We specialize in making a calzone how people want it and we customize it.”

This is the fourth location, Duncan said. The are two other stores in Spokane and one in Seattle.

Since the original Pete’s opened nearly 25 years ago, Duncan said the small chain of restaurants has sold 2.5 million calzones. The Duncan family bought Pete’s from the original owner in 1988.

Outlet store line expanded

The Pacific Trail outlet store at 13524 E. Sprague recently held a grand opening, but the store isn’t new.

It did, however, go from being a liquidator of returned or irregular stock to an outlet for surplus merchandise. The store now also sells London Fog brand clothing.

The inventory of coats, jackets, rainwear and accessories is now current merchandise, not discontinued items or seconds, said store manager Tammy Knudsen.

London Fog actually bought the Pacific Trail company two years ago, she said, but didn’t immediately integrate the two lines of clothing here. The London Fog line is mostly traditional and professional styles, while Pacific Trail products are primarily activewear.

The Valley Pacific Trail outlet store first opened as a liquidator of seconds three years ago, Knudsen said. Before that, it was in the Spokane Industrial Park.

There is another Pacific Trail store in Post Falls.

, DataTimes