U-City To Undergo Major Facelift

As its last anchor tenant prepares to leave for the new Spokane Valley mall, managers of University City say they are about to start a major redevelopment project at the struggling shopping center.

The project involves tearing down the 35-year-old mall’s long-vacant east wing, which formerly housed a Rosauers supermarket and a strip of smaller stores. Demolition will begin in about two weeks, said David Peterson, vice president of Goodale and Barbieri Companies, which manages U-City.

Rosauers has signed a letter of intent to build a 50,000 square foot grocery store on the same site it occupied before leaving U-City and moving to its current location at 10920 E. Sprague in 1990. Negotiations between U-City and Rosauers are ongoing.

Larry Geller, Rosauers president, said construction could begin in August and the new store likely would open next spring.

“We believe it’s a better location, and I suspect we will be the catalyst to help others show an interest” in the redevelopment of U-City, Geller said.

After the demolition is done, Percy’s restaurant, which has been part of the shopping complex since 1968, would be left as a free-standing building.

Pat Kroetch, owner of Percy’s, said U-City has promised to build a new glass atrium around part of the restaurant building. Kroetch said he is planning a $200,000 interior renovation project at the restaurant.

J.C. Penney, the last of U-City’s retail anchors, has been conducting a moving sale for the past couple of weeks, as has Hamer’s, a men’s clothing store. Both are closing their U-City stores next month to move into new quarters in the Spokane Valley Mall.

Peterson said U-City will have also some new tenants to boast about once the redevelopment project is completed.

He said Goodale and Barbieri has “letters of intent” from national chains that plan to open stores at U-City, but he won’t name the prospective tenants.

Last year, Goodale and Barbieri announced that a major retailer had committed to lease 52,000 square feet of space at U-City. However, no such store has since materialized.

Two years ago, mall managers said they had “big plans” for U-City, but they wouldn’t discuss specifics. And nothing happened.

In 1992, Goodale and Barbieri anounced ambitious expansion and remodeling plans for U-City, including new anchors. But those plans also fell through.

If this U-City redevelopment project actually happens, several mall structures would receive new facades. Peterson would not say how much will be invested in the project.

The planned atrium would extend the Percy’s restaurant building by eight feet on two sides. Overhead skylights would also be added. Kroetch said the renovations will be completed by next spring.

Peterson said the empty Newberry’s and Lamont’s buildings would both get new facades.

“This is going to be a power shopping mall,” Kroetch said. “It’s going to be alive again shortly.”

Percy’s recently started an advertising campaign, declaring: “Our shopping center here at U-City is quietly sleeping … We are not!”

Higher lease payments at the Spokane Valley Mall made a move to that location unfeasible for Kroetch.

Peterson predicted many shoppers would be put off by crowds and traffic congestion at the new mall.

“A lot of people can’t commit two or three hours to go shopping in a major mall complex,” Peterson said. “Convenience is so important today.”

U-City officials are banking on their direct access from Sprague Avenue and University Road to bolster business.”Sprague Avenue is not going to die. It is a great retail arterial, and a lot of our tenants are going to cater to that element,” Peterson said.

, DataTimes