Construction Begins On U-City Redesign

Thu., June 25, 1998

By Angie Gaddy angieg@spokesman.com

The walls have started to tumble down.

University City shopping mall, the 32-year old shopping center on the corner of Sprague and University Road is starting to see the first signs of a facelift.

Construction has begun on the new 52,000-square-foot Rosauers store on the east side of the shopping center. The former Newberry’s store is coming down.

And the Spokane County hearing examiner has approved a majority of the plans for the University City redesign.

Developers hope a $6 million redesign, including more free-standing buildings, will turn U-City into a retail hub for the Valley.

They say the location, sandwiched between the proposed Valley couplet, running along Sprague Avenue and Second Avenue, will be the perfect location for business.

Transportation officials have envisioned the location as a “downtown” for the Valley, if a light-rail system were to run past the 41.5 acre site.

Preliminary plans call for five new buildings along Second Avenue, where eastbound lanes of the Valley couplet would run.

Developers had asked the county to not limit the number of signs on the property, saying that each new tenant should have the option of its own sign.

However, hearing examiner Mike Dempsey denied their request, saying developers hadn’t given enough information on exactly how many signs might be on the property.

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