The Dirt: Habit Burger planned for West Plains

The owners of Habit Burger are again looking to open a restaurant in the Spokane area, this time just east of Airway Heights.

The Irvine, California-based fast-casual burger chain would open its new restaurant at 9558 W. U.S. Highway 2, across the road from the former Triumph Composites factory, according to submitted building plans.

It would be the company’s first location in Spokane after earlier efforts to put a Habit Burger on North Division fell through.

The company specializes in chargrilled hamburgers and operates 280 locations in 14 states, according to its website.

Other menu items include chicken and tuna sandwiches, which are cooked on an open flame, as are the hamburgers.

Restaurant offerings include salads and handspun milkshakes.

The recent submission of plans to the city marks the third attempt since 2019 of Habit Burger officials pursuing a Spokane location, according to previous Spokesman-Review reports.

Plans for the West Plains location include a roughly 2,000-square-foot restaurant accompanied by a drive-through service lane, a 500-square-foot outdoor patio area, a parking lot and other site improvements.

The effort is estimated to cost $900,000, according to application documents.

The 1.16-acre property is owned by Daniel Kuney, vice president of Kuney Construction, a Spokane-based, family-owned company.

Plans were submitted to the city by Alena Kriachko, a planning and permitting expeditor for a Costa Mesa, California-based company, Commercial Development Resources.

Kriachko said she was not at liberty to discuss the project.

New North Side fourplex

In May 2019, a single-family home in North Spokane became the location of an intense house fire and subsequent act of heroism, according to Spokane Fire Department reports.

At 227 E. Lacrosse Ave., the structure was badly damaged by the blaze and left uninhabitable. During the fire, two victims were rescued by a neighbor and another suffered injuries, according to Spokesman-Review reports.

Since the incident, the 1.3-acre property changed hands four times before Mark Bohn purchased it in April for $130,000, according to Spokane County property records.

Bohn, owner of Roofs by Premier, is behind a project to develop the plot. According to plans submitted to the city of Spokane, Bohn is planning for his company to build the two-story fourplex.

Bohn could not be reached last week, but Kayla Denton, office manager for the roofing firm, said the project will be a unique undertaking for the firm.

“We’ve done a single-family home before, some years ago in Greenacres,” Denton said. “We found that 227 Lacrosse was already zoned for a fourplex so we thought, ‘Let’s try it out.’ ”

Near Byrne Park, the property was rezoned by a previous owner and made for a great opportunity for Bohn to prepare for retirement, she said.

“We are certainly still focused on roofing,” she said. “But Mark has been in the business for about 20 years. The main goal of the development is to help him retire.”

The 5,100-square-foot structure is estimated to cost $500,000, according to construction permit application documents. Each unit will include three bedrooms, Denton said.

Spokane-based Russell Page Architects designed the structure, according to application documents.

Corbin Park-area development

What is currently the site of two single-family homes, may soon be the site of five townhomes.

According to plans submitted to the city of Spokane, the townhomes will each include a one-car garage accessible by a small road connected to the alleyway.

At 202 W. Buckeye Ave., demolition of the existing homes will make way for the new townhomes. Each building will be three stories tall and include two bedrooms, plans show.

Three structures will be constructed together on the south end of the property, nearest Buckeye Avenue, and the other two are planned for the northern portion.

The project is estimated to cost $1.5 million, according to application documents.

The site is about 0.4 acres in size and owned by Real Vantage, a Spokane-based real estate development firm, according to Spokane County property records.

The firm could not immediately be reached last week.

An earlier version of this story misstated the prominence of Habit Burger in Eastern Washington.