The Dirt: Project planned next to Esmeralda Golf Course

A Phoenix-based company has submitted plans for a new shipping facility to be built on a vacant plot of land immediately west of Esmerelda Golf Course, according to city building records.

The structure is planned to be a less-than-truckload operation, which is a shipping method that allows multiple shipments from different businesses that can be combined to fill a single truck.

According to plans, the facility would offer 60 docking spaces for trucks, a service center where trucks can be loaded, an office, 35 parking spaces for tractors, 78 parking spaces for cargo vans and 70 parking spaces for employees, according to plans.

The plans were submitted by Knight-Swift Transportation, one of the industry’s largest truckload companies with roughly 19,000 tractors, 58,000 trailers and 24,000 employees, according to its website.

At 4011 N. Ralph St., the site of the project is not owned by the company but by Spokane developer Larry Stone, who purchased the roughly 15 acre-plot for nearly $3 million in 2018, according to Spokane County property records.

As it is still early in design phases, company officials have submitted plans to explore the feasibility and to garner feedback from city building officials.

According to Nick Lemm, director of real estate at Knight-Swift, company officials are looking to purchase property and expand their less-than-truckload services to the Spokane region.

“I am currently not at liberty to discuss our business development plans, but I can confirm we have not closed on any property in this market at this time,” Lemm said. “In the event we do take ownership of any property in the market in the future we would be open to further discussion.”

According to plans, the project would cost an estimated $12 million to develop.

Knight-Swift has been actively expanding its less-than-truckload services. In 2022, the company finalized a $150 million acquisition of Midwest Motor Express, a Bismarck, North Dakota-based firm that specialized in the freight method.

Habitat for Humanity subdivision

Different from a typical subdivision, Habitat for Humanity-Spokane is planning a unit-lot subdivision project along the Spokane River, just west of Spokane Community College, according to plans submitted to the city of Spokane.

Subdivision projects can entail grading and preparing large swaths of land to be divided into separate properties to create neighborhoods. But on a smaller scale, unit-lot subdivision projects are typically found in an urban setting because they are projects in which developers take a typical single-family property and divide it into smaller parcels.

Cities around the country have begun expanding their building codes to incentivize more unit-lot subdivision projects. Just last year, Spokane passed an ordinance to allow such developments.

Habitat for Humanity is a global, nonprofit housing organization that works to eliminate substandard housing by building, renovating and preserving homes, according to its website.

Located at 3028 E. South Riverton Ave., Habitat for Humanity-Spokane is planning to divide a .33 acre parcel into five properties. The smaller lots will range from about 2,200 square feet to 3,900 square feet, according to plans.

Each property will be graded for a 600-square-foot residential building, plans show.

It is unclear whether the nonprofit will develop the properties to be sold or not. Officials for the nonprofit could not immediately be reached last week.

East Central apartments

A three-story residential building is planned near the intersection of U.S. Interstate 90 and Freya Street, according to plans submitted to the city of Spokane.

The project, dubbed Myrtle 8, will bring eight units of housing, ranging from one- to two-bedroom units.

Each unit will have access to a patio or deck, according to plans.

Located at 4002 E. Fifth Ave., the property is .15 acres in size. The building will take up much of the lot. Plans do not include adding parking, according to building records. The lot is at the southeast corner of Myrtle Street and Fifth Avenue.

The property was purchased by Josh Tremmei and Trisha Steffins in 2023 for $255,000, according to Spokane County property records.

The project was designed by Elevation Home Design, a Puyallup, Washington-based firm, according to plans.

Tracy Taylor, of Elevation, could not immediately be reached last week.