New role planned for J.C. Penney building

A Spokane development company will announce plans Thursday to convert the former J.C. Penney building downtown into a mix of shops and restaurants.

The building’s second level will house a new downtown Spokane location for 24 Hour Fitness, said Ian Riley, CEO and president of Oz Fitness, the club’s parent company. The health club expects to close its smaller gym on Riverside Avenue and move in around March, Riley said.

More details on the project will be available when the building’s owner, CPC Development, holds a press conference Thursday, said Bob Smith, manager of River Park Square.

CPC Development and River Park Square both are subsidiaries of Cowles Publishing Co., parent company of The Spokesman-Review.

Other firms negotiating leases for space in the building are national restaurant chain PF Chang’s China Bistro and men’s fashion retailer Jos. A. Banks Clothiers. Spokespeople for both retailers said they expect leases to be signed in a few months.

Both companies have locations in the Seattle area but none now in Spokane.

Once a vital commercial corner downtown, the Penney building at Main and Post has been vacant since 2001. It was first constructed in the 1970s.

J.C. Penney closed its doors in downtown Spokane in 1991. For about a year, the Spokane Public Library used the building while its downtown branch was under construction.

CPC Development bought the J.C. Penney building in 1994. From that year until 2001, retailer Burlington Coat Factory used the building’s first and second floors.

Representatives of CPC Development have talked to potential business partners about the building for several years, according to previous news stories.

Laura Cherry, a spokeswoman for PF Chang’s based in Scottsdale, Ariz., said she couldn’t discuss the restaurant chain’s part in the project until a lease is signed. “We expect that to occur around the end of September,” she said. PF Chang’s has about 120 locations nationwide.

Dave Ullman, spokesman for Maryland-based Jos. A. Banks, said the company hopes to move into a first-floor space in the Penney building later this year. Lease details are still being negotiated, he said. The store will hire six to eight workers, he said.

Riley, of Oz Fitness, said the health club’s move downtown will parallel 24 Hour Fitness’s recent upgrade to a newer facility in Spokane Valley. Downtown, the gym has operated for more than a decade in a cramped 18,000-square-foot space on Riverside between Post and Wall streets.

“Much of that space has been unusable,” said Riley, noting “the actual floor space after we move will be considerably improved.”

The fitness center will be adding a pilates room and offering parking through the River Park Square garage, Riley added.

Riley said he couldn’t disclose plans for the space being vacated by 24 Hour Fitness. He also said he couldn’t disclose how much money the company will spend moving to its new location.