Hayford Crossing will have Grocery Outlet as anchor

The final corner of the busy intersection at U.S. Highway 2 and Hayford Road in Airway Heights is catching up with its neighbors.

A new retail development known as Hayford Crossing is being constructed on the southwest quadrant and will include a 17,500 square-foot Grocery Outlet store and an accompanying 9,000 square-foot Dollar Tree as anchor tenants.

It doesn't seem that long ago the land housed a hamburger joint operated by the Longhorn that served up scrumptious sandwiches and arguably the best milkshakes around. But food is not forgotten at Hayford Crossing with Jimmy John's and possibly others coming with the opening set for late summer of 2016.

A Supercuts, occupying 1,500 square-feet will also be opening in late summer. An 8,600 square-foot Pawn 1 retail store is projected to open in fall 2016.

"(There are) three additional shell spaces totaling 4,500 square-feet that are not leased yet but available," Mark D'Agostino, project manager for general contractor Meridian Construction said.

Other future expansion can take place with a pad on the corner of the site for a 5,000 square-foot building, as well as 10,000 square-foot pad adjacent to Grocery Outlet. Overall cost of the development is about $10 million, D'Agostino said.

Hayford Crossing is just one of numerous new businesses that continue to sprout along U.S. 2 and Airway Heights, one of Spokane County's fastest growing areas. It sits kitty-corner from the ever-expanding area that includes a Walmart and more than a dozen other retailers.

Meridian is hardly a stranger on the West Plains when it comes to construction projects. They have built numerous restaurants and buildings for the Kalispel Tribe of Indians at Northern Quest Resort and Casino.

"In fact, Meridian was hired back in 1999 to be the owner's representative for the initial casino and worked for over 10 years in that capacity including building several projects as a general contractor," D'Agostino said. That totaled over $50 million in new construction.

Meridian also built the 20,000 square-foot $3.5 million, Enduris office building in the West Plains in 2012.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].