California developers envision resort on land near Cabela’s

Hoping to capture customers of the massive Cabela’s store on the west end of Post Falls, two Southern California development companies are pitching a $25.2 million destination resort, including three hotels and two restaurants, next door along the Spokane River.

The RiverView resort, which also would offer trails and a canoe and kayak launch, could compete with rival California developer Foursquare Properties’ proposal to build at least two hotels near the Cabela’s site, which is called The Pointe at Post Falls.

RiverView proponents Hughes Investments and Watson & Associates want Spokane County officials’ support for the resort on the vacant site, which is now zoned for rural residential development. The developers say it would be a tax boon for the county, allowing it to capitalize on the regional draw of the 125,000-square-foot Cabela’s just over the state line.

Hughes Investments, of Newport Beach, Calif., and Watson & Associates, of Seal Beach, Calif., envision the resort as a place where Cabela’s customers can try out their new fly-fishing rods or kayaks – and as a more attractive entrance to Spokane County than some of Stateline’s current establishments, which include a strip club, said Alan Johnson, Hughes’ senior vice president of development.

Preliminary plans from Carlsbad, Calif.-based Foursquare showed two hotel sites. That would be in addition to about 806,000 square feet of buildings on about 83 acres east of Cabela’s. Wal-Mart has purchased property there for a superstore.

“We know them. They’re very qualified, responsible developers. But I would guess this may be somewhat competitive with what they’re planning to do,” Johnson said.

Foursquare President Jeff Vitek did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

It likely would be a year or two before construction would begin at the 400-room resort, Johnson said. The RiverView resort also would include a gas station and convenience store and a coffee shop. Retail space would be built on the Idaho side.

Conceptual plans submitted to the county show car license plates from Montana, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta photographed in the parking lot of Cabela’s, where aquariums are stocked with native fish and a small artificial mountain is populated by stuffed game.

“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find another attraction, if you will, in (the region) that brings that many people,” Johnson said. “It’s almost part museum, part retail outlet.”

Building the resort would create about 245 jobs and generate about $377,600 in sales and use tax revenue, according to a report from Portland-based consulting firm Johnson Gardner LLC. The firm claims ongoing operation of the resort would employ 173 and add about $555,000 in taxes each year.

Developers have not lined up specific tenants or filed for the conditional-use permit from the county they would need to proceed.

Most of the 18-acre site lies in Washington, where some of the land is zoned for one home per five acres and some for one home per 20 acres.

RiverView would be the first development seeking designation as a “master planned resort” under Spokane County’s comprehensive plan, said John Pederson, interim director of the county Department of Building and Planning. That designation, which requires a conditional-use permit and a public input process, would allow development outside designated urban growth areas.

County Commissioner Bonnie Mager said developers would need to demonstrate “proven technology” for handling sewage generated by the resort.

“It sounds very nice, but the devil’s always in the details,” Mager said. “There’s going to be a lot of waste coming from this resort, much more than if there were individual homes there, and I think we just need to be really careful over our aquifer.”

Johnson said developers are working to create a clean system. “We’re pretty concerned that we don’t do anything to damage the environment,” he said.

Buildings would be set back 250 feet from the river, avoiding state and county shoreline requirements, plans show.

Developers says resort trails would connect to the old Interstate 90 bridge at Appleway Lane, which the county wants to replace, and to a proposed realignment of the Centennial Trail, which stretches from Spokane to Coeur d’Alene. Just across the bridge, Spokane County owns or operates about 30 acres of parks with amenities such as a dog park and visitors center.