AIRWAY HEIGHTS – Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest recently announced plans to build a new 60,000-square-foot facility here.
According to records, Goodwill Industries recently purchased 6 acres of land at the southeast corner of Deer Heights Road and Flight Drive for $770,000.
Goodwill CEO Clark Brekke said the facility will serve multiple purposes, but over half of the facility will be designated for salvage space that allows the bulk sale of products that don’t sell in the retail stores.
Brekke said the company has been looking for property in the West Plains for around a year-and-a-half.
Initial assessments priced the facility at around $8 million, according to a pre-development application.
But Brekke said with the construction and supply industries “are at their top dollar,” and the price is now estimated to be closer to $9-$10 million, all of which will be paid through Goodwill capital and revenue.
Brekke said Bernardo Wills Architects and Baker Construction are the listed contractors, and Bernardo Wills has nearly finished blueprints for the facility.
Brekke expects site work to begin in March or April after the ground thaws from Winter, and said the building is expected to be completed by February of 2023.
The CEO said this new facility will help the company, because they will be moving their entire outlet store to this new facility so the property on Front Street in Spokane can then be used for storage.
Brekke said this store will house a retail store along with an outlet store, but the ability to have a salvage area is a main goal of the building. He said the salvage area is essential because the company gets so many donations, they can’t process all of them through retail, so being able to sell products and textiles in bulk to a third party will really help maintain and organize the donations easier.
The facility will provide 60 jobs or more, many of which will be store transfers. Brekke said this facility will add close to 25 new jobs and will help further implement the services that Goodwill offers. Brekke said everything Goodwill does is to “help people that are less fortunate get on their feet.”
He said working with the local homeless population is extremely important to him, and he wants to help people learn vocational and job skills along with basic life skills.
Brekke also said the location is ideal for the business needs. There are no other facilities of that type in Airway Heights, and he said the area demographics fit very well with what Goodwill is trying to accomplish.
The CEO also said with the growth Airway Heights is currently going through, he expects to see a very successful start for this building.
Brekke said he is excited and the Spokane area has always been very supportive of Goodwill, and he said every time Goodwill opens a new store people flood through the doors.
Matthew O. Stephens can be reached at [email protected].
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