Communication Glitch Results In Shopping Center Site Being Clear-Cut

Steve Meyer isn’t too happy about the devastation at the Prairie Shopping Center site he owns.

Hundreds of trees were bulldozed on the 27 acres scheduled to house a shopping center between Highway 95 and Government Way north of Prairie Avenue in Hayden.

Meyer blamed the uprooting on a communication problem between the general contractor and a subcontractor.

Dozens of the larger pine trees were to suppose to be saved along the streets and on islands between buildings and parking areas. The nine buildings will house 34 retail stores and other commercial ventures totaling 227,600 square feet.

Unaware of the tree clearing, Meyer brought along a carload of bankers when he arrived at the site last week.

“It looked like a bomb blast,” he said. “It’s just terrible. We are really disappointed.”

Meyer said as many trees as possible will be replaced.

“Our landscaping practices include saving trees,” he said. “I had calls from people saying ‘How could you let them do that?’ I didn’t let them. They were to be saved. North Idaho is pine trees.”

An Albertson’s market and Pay Less Drug Store will be part of Phase I of the project, which is slated to open in late July. Another phase will convert the 120,000-square-foot former Keystone Lighting Building into a retail area that will include a four-plex movie theater. Five separate business pads will border the access roads.

Steve and Judy Meyer own Parkwood Business Properties, which administers several North Idaho developments. Leasing agent for Prairie Shopping Center is Marshall Clark of Spokane.

Realizing that recreation is North Idaho’s major amenity, Kootenai Saw & Cycle is more than tripling its space at Best Avenue and 13th Street.

The 36-year-old company, with an existing 4,000-square-foot store at 1308 Best, is adding an 8,400-square-foot warehouse and showroom across the street. The major products include Yamaha, Bombardier and Husqvarna RVs, watercraft and snowmobiles. The new space will make room for new lines of Skeeter boats.

Owners are Diana and Greg Mills, who came from Spokane (via Sandpoint) and Wyoming, respectively. They have 15 employees.

Athletic Fitters gets its foot into the Northwest with a new outlet in Silver Lake Mall. The Minnesota-based athletic footwear and apparel store has 88 outlets in 15 Midwest states.

Hiring about 10 local employees, Athletic Fitters plans to open its 3,254-square-foot space (formerly Jean Nicole Plus) next to Kay-Bee Toys. A manager hasn’t been selected.

Key selling points for the store include “down-to-earth customer service” and “the technical know-how needed with so many choices.” Name brands include Nike, Fila, Reebok, Starter and Champion. The store will offer discounts to school teams. Owner Paul Taunton started the company in 1983 in Willmar, Minn. Its headquarters are in Eden Prairie.

Silver Lake Mall has one remaining opening with a current temporary tenant.

The embarrassing part of this one is that I joked to the guy that I was going senile before I even wrote the story.

Last week I wrote that the new Silver Lake Square minimall on Government Way was being leased for $95 a square foot. Therefore I wasn’t astonished when mall leasing agent Craig Nelson admonished me that it is 95 cents, not dollars.

Oops. My $95 would be high for Manhattan; rent on a 10-by-10 office would be $9,500 a month, pointed out reader Dick Wandrocke. At least Nelson can be assured the item is seen. He’s at Beebe McKernan & McCarty Realtors.

A couple of tidbits:

The revamped Paul Bunyan eatery on Northwest Boulevard, Coeur d’Alene, opened last weekend with the new drive-through allowing the order to be served to the driver’s side. A major change.

After years of needing a major change, the Coeur d’Alene Post Office moves its mail processing and delivering operations to its new Kathleen Avenue facility this weekend. The new building will have no window or customer service. An additional 15 parking spaces will be added at the downtown facility.

, DataTimes MEMO: Nils Rosdahl’s column appears in the Idaho edition of The Spokesman-Review on Wednesdays.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Nils Rosdahl The Spokesman-Review