Strip mall at border still on the horizon

Jeff Devoe, project manager for Hawkins Companies’ proposed mall at the state line east of Pullman, paid a visit to Whitman County officials earlier this month, assuring the company is still very much interested in developing its site.

“Basically it was a make-contact visit,” said Auditor Eunice Coker. “He had been working with Sharron Cunningham (former assistant finance director) on the bonds, and so he came by to figure out who he would be talking to now.”

DeVoe met with Coker, Treasurer Robert Lothspeich, Public Works Director Mark Storey and Gary Petrovich, the county commissioners’ new finance director.

Cunningham had been working out the details of a bond issue pledged to help the development of the shopping center. She resigned in June, two days after Bev Divine, finance director, was fired by commissioners.

Whitman County in 2008 pledged to issue $9 million worth of bonds to pay for installation of water pipes, roads and lights at the 714-000-square foot site. Those bonds would be guaranteed with a combination of the state funding and county .09 economic development funds. The county will not have to issue the bonds until 90 days before construction begins.

Coker said DeVoe earlier this month spoke with the county’s new finance officials about the possible implications of bonds of different lengths.

The development has been planned for the past four years, but a series of appeals over water rights, including several from the city of Moscow, delayed construction.

DeVoe told the Gazette last year the company was having a hard time attracting interest from potential retail tenants because of the recession. He did not return Gazette phone calls this week.

The Hawkins web site lists Lowe’s Hardware store as the only named tenant at the site.

“He said they have a company policy in which they don’t break ground until they have a certain percentage of occupancy guaranteed,” said Coker.

Though the ground will likely produce wheat again in 2011, Storey said DeVoe told him they will begin the process of forming a water and sewer district at the project site, which is in unincorporated Whitman County.

“They don’t want the project to die, and they want to keep an active hand on it,” said Storey.

Coker said DeVoe told her the company has too much invested to walk away from this project.

“They already have about $10 million into water rights and sinking wells and buying land,” said Coker. “Basically, the economy slowed down, and that slowed them down. But now that it’s picking back up, they’re trying to move it back forward.”

Helping fund the project will be a $5 million grant the county received from the legislature last year in a special economic development earmark. The funds will come to the county in payments of up to $200,000 for 25 years and will be paid out of the state’s share of increased tax revenue generated at the strip mall.