Building boom Residential, commercial construction thriving in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Residential construction in Moses Lake is ramping up with the addition of a new 129-unit apartment complex project going in on a 6.3-acre lot at 760 Central Ave.

This project comes on the heels of the 228-unit Solara Apartment project in the 1300 block of Nelson Road on the 180-unit Chelsea Park Apartments near the Crestview Christian School on West Valley Road. All of the excavation and grading on Pioneer Way is the site of another apartment complex called Pioneer Meadows.

The family home market is also in full swing. Hayden Homes’ Crossroads North Phase I west of Highway 17 and Nelson Road is fully involved in its six-phase housing development.

“There’s another 150 lots in six phases to the Crossroads project,” said Moses Lake senior planner Anne Henning. “Aho Construction has close to 200 lots to build west of town near Blue Heron Park. It’s been really busy this spring and that usually means good things for growth and development.”

As for the newest apartment complex on Central Ave., it will have six apartment buildings with a centralized clubhouse and pool.

“We are in the pushing dirt stage, but we have three of seven foundations in. We will start framing (today),” Ginno Construction superintendent Ely Covey said. “We’ll have five foundations in before the snow flies. Our current schedule has us put out by mid-August of 2017.”

The Solara Apartment project began in January of last year. Superintendent Josh Dunagan said he expects the complex to be ready for tenants by January of 2017.

“The first building and the leasing center should be ready for people to move in by the beginning of the year,” he said. “We have 20 apartment buildings, plus the clubhouse. The buildings are all framed and stair-stepped along. Roughly, every month, month and a half we’ll have a different building ready.”

Each building includes 20 to 36 apartments.

Construction crews have been in the 22,878-square-foot Sportsman’s Warehouse building at 1020 N. Stratford Rd. about 20 days now, working to complete the tenant improvement of the existing space. Cameron Construction of Salt Lake City, Utah, is handling that project.

“This is about mid-range in size,” said superintendent Paul Miner. “Washington is one of (Sportsman’s Warehouse’s) better markets,” Miner said. “This is one of four or five stores in Washington. I would say it's in the mid-market range.”

Miner said they are on schedule to open the store by mid-February.

Bosch II Construction has completed most of the parking lot at the new 2,900-square-foot Pizza Hut building at 715 S. Pioneer Way. The building, parking lot and landscape work is expected to be completed for the grand opening around the first of the year.

The WinCo Foods building on Stratford is enclosed as crews move forward on the 21st Washington store. The store will be located between Stratford Road and Central Drive, adjacent to Moses Lake Town Center, which houses Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, Marshall’s and Party City. The warehouse-style grocery based out of Boise, Idaho, is expected to open sometime in the second quarter of 2017.

The structure for the 11,000-square-foot building at the Colville Fuels Half-Sun Travel Plaza is expected to have the store interior wrapped up by December, maybe January, Granite Petroleum project manager Mark Lundt said.

The Half-Sun Travel Plaza will be at the southwest corner of South Wanapum Drive and West Lakeshore Drive. It is owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville and will feature a truck stop, with a convenience store and gas station on a 9.25-acre parcel of land.

The project includes: separate covered fuel dispensing islands for tractor trailers and standard vehicles, underground fuel storage and product delivery systems, a truck scale, an automated car wash, asphalt parking, driveways and road surfaces, signage, safety lighting and connection to local utilities.

Construction crews at the new Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott have completed the stonework on the entranceway at the new project on Maiers Road. The hotel will be three stories and will have 84 rooms, according to developer John Ferguson. The new Fairfield Inn & Suites in Moses Lake will operate as a Marriott franchise once its construction is complete.