Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

The Lowe's Site Plan Gets Higher (Square Footage)

Remember the WA/ID border strip mall site plan featuring a Lowe's here that has been the subject of much speculation on the Palouse as of late? All the publicity in the paper last week must have generated some interest. April Coggins points out that the site plan has been significantly modified by adding a THIRD 135,000 sq. ft. yet-to-be-named big box store. That brings the total retail space to well over a staggering 400,000 sq. ft.

The new design is more of a "shopping village" than the "strip mall" design (perhaps the developers are already anticipating a fight).

This has all the trademarks of that yucky "urban sprawl" that the PARDners get so worked up over. However, when the County Commissioners were having the final public hearing on the zoning for the corridor, PARD was off trying to keep the Pullman Foursquare Church out of the Cordova. Still makes me chuckle.

6 comments:

April E. Coggins said...

It looks like Judy Krueger will be getting her roundabout after all. Can we all hear PARD applauding? lol

April E. Coggins said...

It also looks like Moscow is getting a new theatre? Carmike Cinemas is now shown in yellow on the aerial map.

Scotty said...

That is not just a little strip mall anymore... That is a shopping town! I love it! The only thing that could be better is if that were in the City limits of Pullman. But just to have that tax base coming to Whitman County is wonderful.

The Carmike location appears to be on UI land? or is there non-UI land over there too?

Unknown said...

It's going to be interesting to see how this turns out. This development will require a significant investment in utility infastructure, and it won't be coming from Pullman any time soon.

Given Moscow's new mayor and city council, I also don't see Moscow extending water and sewer to the development either.

April E. Coggins said...

How long will it take for the Idaho residents who work in Pullman, to start complaining about the added congestion on their commute to work?

And did you notice in the brochure that the developer is using the other nearby businesses as a selling point? Businesses WANT to be near successful businesses. Competition is good for everyone, including the retailer.

Unknown said...

I think the Carmike Cinemas is a misplaced graphic. The University 4 Theatres located behind the University Inn are a Carmike Cinemas franchise.