Storage condominiums planned

New condominiums are slated for the West Plains, but not the kind people live in.

Not unless they spend an inordinate amount of time with their sports cars, boats or other grown-up toys.

Priced for about $50,000 to $200,000, the 20 units of the Toy Condos — planned for a parcel off West Thorpe Road near Interstate 90 — will offer residents a place to store their vehicles or run a business, so long as they do not serve customers there, said Shawn Gilson, sales manager. Ranging from roughly 600 to 2,300 square feet, they can provide many of the comforts of home, including private bathrooms and showers, climate control and Internet service, boasts the developer, Toy Condos Inc.

Expected to be completed this fall, the project is the latest in a growing trend toward storage condos, despite a slump in the local residential condo market.

“A lot of places where people live, they do not have room for their boats, motor homes, that sort of thing,” said Gilson, of Richard Treacy Real Estate in Spokane. “And we’ve got a solution for that, basically condos for your toys, a place to put them.”

Competitor Coeur d’Alene-based GarageTown USA built its first storage condos several years ago, and now operates them in six states, including one in Spokane Valley. One of its Coeur d’Alene properties sold out, and the other has few condos remaining, according to its Web site.

A separate competing project in Spokane Valley, the year-old, 53-unit Fort Knox RV & Boat Storage, is about 70 percent full, said Jon Luciani, a commercial agent with NAI Black. Units there also are offered for lease.

Legacy Construction Group, of Moses Lake, will build the Toy Condos, Gilson said. He said some units have been reserved, but he declined to say how many.

“I think that the demand is definitely there,” Gilson said. “We’re only five minutes outside of downtown.”

Owners could upgrade the units by paying to install sound systems, wet bars or mezzanines. “We can customize these units to do pretty much whatever they’d like,” Gilson said.

The project is not related to a proposal by a Spokane businessman to build 64 condo-style garages and a town square off Highway 2, near Triumph Composite Systems Inc., Gilson said.

The company would like to expand to other cities and will look at building more on the site, he said.

Expeditors eyes new data center

Expeditors International of Washington Inc. has purchased 3.4 acres in Airway Heights for a future data center, says a real estate agent involved in the transaction.

The company intends to move its data center from Seattle, where its headquarters are, to Airway Heights, said Earl Engle, of NAI Black. The facility might be 25,000 to 30,000 square feet, he said.

As a logistics company, Expeditors acts as a travel agent for cargo; it helps clients consolidate and manage orders for shipment by air and sea, and offers services such as insurance and help with customs. The corporation has seen rapid growth: It had revenues of $5.2 billion last year, up from $2.6 billion in 2003.

An Expeditors representative could not be reached for comment.

Metals company expands warehouse

Metals forming and supply company The Coeur d’Alenes Co. is building a 23,000-square-foot addition to its east Spokane warehouse.

The project, 3900 E. Broadway Ave., will be used for storing and processing aluminum, including a 34-foot press brake so large the structure must be built around it, said Larry Coulson, president. Built by Garco Construction Inc., the structure is expected to be finished by Oct. 15, he said.

The project will cost $1.66 million, according to a city building permit.

The company, which will celebrate its 125th anniversary next year, already has about 2 acres under its roof and employs about 100 workers full time, Coulson said. Future plans call for adding even more space to the west.

“Over the last four years, business has grown substantially,” Coulson said.