Moses Lake strip mall construction underway

Development on Stratford Road to house several chain stores

MOSES LAKE — Passers-by may have already noticed the crews moving ground on a section of land facing Stratford Road.

What will soon be a plaza strip mall has had little more than holes dug so far, but officials expect concrete to start pouring in the next few days. Contractor Doug Horne said the buildings should materialize from there.

"It will go pretty fast once it starts," Horne said.

Horne is the owner of H&H Steel Buildings in Moses Lake, the general contractor on the Penn Plaza Strip Mall to be built where Penhallurick's True Value once stood. Horne said the concrete footings will be poured in the next few days, and he expects the first shipment of steel for phase one of the project by mid-September.

When the total project is complete, the complex will amass four phases totaling approximately 33,000 square feet. The project is scheduled to house commercial businesses as well as restaurants within the four phases, and has been zoned for general commercial business.

Mark Fancher is with Tomlinson Black Ranch & Home Real Estate in Moses Lake and is leasing the spaces of Penn Plaza. He can't say yet who could be opening their doors at the site, other than to say that some national franchise tenants are already on board. Fancher said officials will be able to release the names of those businesses soon.

Community Development Director Gilbert Alvarado with the City of Moses Lake said earlier this month that city officials will continue to work with developers on the plan while it is under construction. Alvarado said Wednesday that the city is awaiting an engineer's report that is expected in the next few days before the concrete footings can be poured on the project.

The land housed Penhallurick's True Value for about 12 years before the store moved into the former Market Place building farther down Stratford Road late last year, and the former building was torn down.

As one of the conditions of approval for the project, Alvarado said, the developer will be working with the Washington State Department of Transportation on landscaping to "dress up" near the on-ramp to the adjacent Highway 17.

Horne said the entire surrounding property will be landscaped.

"He's going to do a nice job," Horne said of developer Rick Penhallurick's plans for the property, "This will be a nice looking complex."

Penhallurick has not returned phone calls regarding the proposed strip mall or when it is scheduled to open, but Horne said they are aiming to have the businesses into their buildings by the first of the year.