The Dirt: Numerica building new Five Mile branch

Numerica Credit Union is building a new Five Mile Branch on North Maple Street that should be completed by the end of the year.

The new branch is located at 6281 N. Maple St. It will replace the current branch at 1916 W. Francis Ave. Company officials are having a ground breaking ceremony planned for Monday.

“This branch reflects our continued investment in the well-being of the Five Mile community,” Numerica President and CEO Carla Cicero said in a news release.

Featuring a modern design, the new branch will include a drive-thru ATM.

Based in Spokane Valley, Numerica has 21 branches and more than 170,000 members across Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

“I’m incredibly proud of the focus our team puts into improving service and convenience to our members,” Cicero said. “We have 10 branches across the Spokane region, each one living out our core purpose of enhancing lives, fulfilling dreams, and building communities.”

Fat Cat plans ‘condo garages’ on West Plains

Fat Cat Storage, of Spokane, has submitted building permits to bring the “condo garage” concept to the West Plains.

Owner Tricia Jarrett Development LLC has submitted requests to build a total of 40 units in six buildings at 9014 W. Hilton Ave., which is just east of the intersection of Flint Road and southeast of Rusty Moose restaurant.

Combined, the six buildings of Fat Cat Storage will total about 56,500 square feet and are expected to cost a total of about $6.8 million to build, according to building documents filed with the city of Spokane.

T.J. Bush is one of the owners of the family business that built its first Fat Cat Garage in Richland.

“A typical storage unit is a metal building with a metal garage door,” Bush said. “These are completely finished. They are sheet rocked, textured, taped and painted.”

The units, which are temperature controlled, can be rented or purchased. They are fully wired with 50 amp hookups for RVs, he said.

“They are like nice toy boxes where people can put their high-end motor homes, boats and RVs,” he said. “We also have people who rent them for workshop space. In Richland, we have a couple one-man-show cabinetmakers and other guys who work on cars.”

The Spokane units will be owned by Bush’s sister, Tricia Jarrett, and their father, Tim Bush.

Baker Construction, of Spokane, is the contractor and MMEC Architecture & Interiors, of Spokane, is the architect.

T.J. Bush said the company’s name was coined by his uncle, who created the name and logo about 20 years ago in Boise.

“When we started the garage concept three years ago, we liked the name and logo and asked him to repurpose it,” Bush said.

Bush was not sure when construction would be complete.

Humane Society to revamp barn for offices

The Spokane Humane Society has submitted a request to Spokane County to repurpose an existing red barn at its property at 6609 N. Havana St. into office space.

Plans submitted to the county include remodeling about 2,400 square feet at a projected cost of about $200,000, said Caleb Nokes, who is the owner of Nokes Builders.

“Their current setup is a lot of office space in mobile trailers,” Nokes said. “This is to provide a more centralized office space. It’s going to be a huge upgrade for them.”

The building permit for a commercial remodel was submitted Feb. 20. Nokes said construction is expected to begin Monday and should take about four months to complete.