Rite Aid To Build On Prime Corner Of Sullivan And Sprague

Thu., Feb. 12, 1998

Angie Gaddy Staff Writer

It was the last undeveloped corner on one of the hottest strips in town.

But starting the first week of March, construction of a new Rite Aid pharmacy on the northwest corner of Sprague and Sullivan will prove undeveloped land along the Sullivan corridor is evaporating like water in a desert.

The new 17,000-square-foot store will open on July 30, Rite Aid company officials said. The cost will be $2.5 to $3 million.

The Camp Hill, Penn., company is considering moving its other two Valley stores, formerly known as Payless Drug before Rite Aid acquired Payless in 1996. The company hasn’t decided where to move them yet, said Rite Aid spokesperson Sarah Datz.

Although company officials in Pennsylvania did not say why they chose the Sullivan corridor, Spokane real estate experts say the answer is clear: location, location, location.

“When the Valley Mall set down there it created a strong hold. Everyone else wanted to be there,” said Denise Harfield, a sales associate for Clark Commercial Real Estate Co. The Spokane Valley Mall, an $80 million, 750,000-square-foot center at Sullivan and Indiana was planned in the 1970s. An option on the property was taken in 1984. After many delays, construction began in April 1996.

Big retailers - Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, Fred Meyer, Future Shop and Petco have staked their claim on the three-quarter mile strip from Interstate 90 to Sprague Avenue.

Those big-box tenants, realtors say, can draw from more than 15 miles.

Back in the 1980s, it was only Best and Kmart at Sullivan Square Shopping Center. Now, the strip is packed. “There ain’t much left,” Harfield said.

The visibility along six lanes of Sullivan Road means businesses are willing to pay more.

The price per-square-foot along Sullivan has increased, she said. It can run anywhere from $8 to $15 a square foot.

, DataTimes

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