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Five Mile Shopping Center was ailing seven years ago when members of Spokane's Dixon family, which formerly owned NorthTown Mall, acquired it and several other commercial properties here in a swap with Seattle-based Sabey Corp.
The 150,000-square-foot community retail center at Francis and Ash, which is anchored by a Rosauers supermarket, hadn't been updated in many years, was struggling with vacancy problems, and appeared to be slowly dying.
The family members' Dixon Investment Co. launched a major facelift at the center about a year after becoming its new owner. Along with reroofing the complex and restructuring some interior spaces, it put up a new facade, with arches, peaks, and pillars; installed a wide covered walkway; and applied a stucco-type finish. It combined the architectural features with colors such as beige, peach, and teal in an effort to create a warm Southwestern feel.
The facelift gave the shopping center, which was renamed Five Mile Plaza, a contiguous look along its 800-foot length, and eliminated the dated, mishmash appearance created previously by differing storefronts. The same motif now is being added to the Five Mile Center Building, a 6,000-square-foot island structure located just off of Francis in the center's parking lot.
Hal R. Dixon, president and CEO of Dixon Investment, says the approximate $1 million cost of the improvements has paid off handsomely in the form of heightened tenant interest and customer traffic at the center.
"We had always thought the location was superb. We could see potential, but something had to be done with the property to renew it," Dixon says.
"We bought it knowing we would have to do some extensive renovations to perk it up. Fortunately, it has paid off very well for us, the center, and the neighborhood," he says.
Five Mile Plaza now is fully leased and offers a mix of dining, entertainment, banking, hobby, and other retail services. Tenants in the center's main building, west of the 49,000-square-foot Rosauers store, include Old America Store, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Entertainment Unlimited, Chic-A-Ria Restaurant & Lounge, Starbucks Coffee, Godfather's Pizza, Mail Boxes Etc., Great Clips, Radio Shack, a Spokane Railway Credit Union branch, and a Laundromat.
The Five Mile Center Building, where modernization work is expected to be completed...