The Dirt:

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$2.1 million in work

for community center

More than $2.1 million in new construction and renovation is coming to the East Central Community Center in Spokane, according to permits issued by the city.

The work will add five new classrooms and renovate three existing classrooms to the center.

In January 2018, the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center took over the East Central Community Center at 500 S. Stone St. The outreach center’s move to its new East Central neighborhood location marked an end to its 33-year run in a former fire station on the lower South Hill on Sherman Street.

The organization won a controversial bidding process to assume management of the center, eventually earning a 4-2 vote from the Spokane City Council to operate the aging facility and take over for the existing nonprofit, the East Central Community Organization, which had operated the center since 2012. Both organizations accused the selection process of bias and conflicts of interest.

The successful library bond on November’s ballot will move the neighborhood’s library from the community center to Liberty Park, freeing up space and allowing the renovation work.

The contractor is Meridian Construction, of Spokane Valley. The architect is ZBA Architecture, of Spokane. – N.D.

AutoNation plans new car dealership

Florida-based AutoNation is planning to transform a vacant building in Spokane Valley into a new car dealership.

AutoNation Spokane filed plans with the city to renovate a former Mazda and Mitsubishi car dealership at 8412 E. Sprague Ave. to create a more than 19,000-square-foot dealership and showroom. The property will also include an electric car charging station, according to site plans.

The 1-acre site is owned by Appleway Chevrolet Inc., according to the Spokane County Assessor’s Office.

AutoNation did not respond to a request for comment. The company operates an adjacent Chevrolet showroom.

The project engineer is Texas-based Foresite Group Inc.

AutoNation owns and operates more than 326 locations nationwide, predominately in the Sunbelt. It sells cars from 33 manufacturers, including Toyota, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes Benz, Nissan and Volkswagen. – A.E.

Apartment coming near Pinecroft Business Park

Hayden-based White Water Creek Inc. is planning to build a new apartment complex west of Mirabeau Park in Spokane Valley.

Mirabeau Commons LLC, owned by Todd Prescott of White Water Creek Inc., filed plans with the city to build six, three-story apartment buildings, each spanning more than 23,500 feet, and a community building with a rental office, laundry and gathering space northeast of Cherry Street and directly south of Pinecroft Business Park.

The 5-acre site also will include parking, carports and a play structure, according to site plans.

Spokane-based ZBA Architecture is designing the project, known as Mirabeau Commons Apartments, according to an application filed with the city. – A.E.