Construction expected to start soon on retail site.

Byline: RETAIL NOTEBOOK By Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - Dirt is expected to be moved within a week as construction begins on a new, upscale retail center on Olympic Street, just north of the big-box stores of Wal-Mart and Jerry's Home Improvement Center.

The 10,900-square-foot shopping strip will include between six and nine storefronts, and its exterior shell - everything except "tenant infill" improvements - will cost about $1 million.

Final approval of the project's site plan by Springfield city planners is expected within days.

"We're very close," said S.R. Yett, spokesman for the development's ownership group. "We have a very good relationship with the city of Springfield, and overall they've been fairly easy to work with. We do not anticipate any surprises."

Yett said that his group is seeking to include an aesthetic touch in the strip mall, whose design has been compared to Eugene's North Delta Center, just west of The Home Depot.

In fact, the Olympic Street project will be built by Vik Construction, whose president - Greg Vik - developed the North Delta Center along with Steve and Sally Lee.

The Olympic Street retail center's single building has been designed with style in mind, and the nearly full-acre parcel will be extensively landscaped, Yett said.

"It's going to be beautiful," he said. "We're spending above and beyond, because we believe that's just a good investment."

The retail center, which should be completed by mid-spring, is "about 30 to 50 percent leased," with 5,000 to 6,000 square feet of space still available.

Tenants so far include a Pak Mail store - the only one that has made its commitment public - along with a West Coast-based retail store and a check-cashing company, Yett said.

"And multiple food vendors are showing interest," he said. "We haven't settled on anybody yet; we're still negotiating with them."

Yett and his investment group purchased the Olympic Street property - a total of three lots that were consolidated for the development - for $840,384 in December 2003, according to Lane County property records.

One of the parcels formerly held a Sunny Service Station, which was purchased by Texaco after the local chain folded. The station was torn down in 2003, and contaminated soil was removed.

Yett said that he and his partners were attracted to the site by the large investments made in the area first by Wal-Mart and then by Jerry's.

Then there have been new developments to the west along Mohawk Boulevard, including a new Starbucks coffee shop and a Walgreens drugstore.

"There's just a lot to be said for that area," Yett said. "It has visibility, success and retail magnets."

Retail Notebook runs on Thursdays. Joe Mosley can be reached at 338-2384 or [e-mail].