Upscale Housing Project Planned Next To Business/Industrial Park

Thu., Nov. 27, 1997

Angie Gaddy Staff Writer

A huge mixed-use development planned just west of Liberty Lake along Interstate 90 is moving forward.

Earlier this month, Seattle-based Liberty Lake Land Co. wrapped up construction of roads and installation of utility lines within a 235-acre parcel along the freeway where it plans to develop a business and industrial park.

And within a few weeks, Jireh Development of Post Falls expects to purchase from Liberty Lake Land Co., adjacent land in the hills above the business park where Jireh plans an upscale housing development.

The commerce park will be a combination of retail, light industrial and high-tech business uses, said Liberty Lake Land Co. president Bill Rademaker.

“We’re attempting to give it that really upscale corporate park look,” Rademaker said. “The purpose is to have a top quality park.”

No tenants have been named.

By mid-December, Jireh Development expects to have signed a deal for the purchase of the 581 acres it plans to develop as the Highlands at Liberty Lake. Plans call for 640 single-family homes in the mid- to high-price range, said Dale Smith, the Idaho company’s engineering superintendent.

Smith said the Highlands is a 10-year project, with development expected to begin in early 1999.

Jireh has built several subdivisions in the Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls areas. The Liberty Lake project, just 10 miles from Jireh’s Post Falls offices, “was a natural progression from our view,” Smith said.

Dick Vandervert, owner of Spokane-based Vandervert Construction, bought 16 acres this year along Liberty Lake Road and announced plans for a $20 million development that will include an 80-room hotel, a grocery store, a video store, banks, gas stations and other shops.

A portion of the Liberty Lake site was developed in the 1970s as the short-lived Holiday Hills ski and recreation area.

The old 9,000-square foot Holiday Hills ski lodge still sits on a hill just south of the freeway. The resort also included a swimming pool, along with a ski rope tow and a snowmobile track.

Lack of consistent snow and the failure of snowmaking equipment sealed the ski resort’s fate.

Holiday Hills developer Charles Williams sold the property to Seattle-based Liberty Lake Investments in 1977.

The old ski lodge will remain on the property, Jireh’s Smith said. “There are no plans as of this year other than to preserve it,” he said.

, DataTimes

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