MOSES LAKE - To attract retailers the ASPI Group expects to start updating Moses Lake's former Kmart building soon.

The Renton-based Aerospace Port International, or ASPI Group, is a major landowner of properties in Grant County.

An ASPI-affiliated entity owns the Kmart building, said Kim Foster, ASPI Group's corporate counsel, on Thursday.

The company plans on dividing the inside of the building into four or five 20,000-square-foot sections to attract medium sized box retailers, he explained.

ASPI Group has a major architectural firm working on the improvement plans that is famous for doing retail projects.

The firm provides ASPI Group with different scenarios for cutting the building and maximizing highway exposure.

Some options for new businesses within the building include consumer electronics, home furnishings, appliances and some type of pet store.

Adding a "pad" or another section in the parking lot for a fast food restaurant or a bank has also been discussed.

The company acquired the structure after the Kmart bankruptcy in 2004 or 2005, he said.

ASPI Group talked with big box and medium box retailers to gauge interest in Moses Lake. 

They were close to an announcement from a new business, but the recession came, stopping development.

"It's kind of unfortunate the economy hit when it did. We have had significant interest in this site," he commented. "I think Moses Lake remains high on the radar screen for retailers to expand. We are in fairly continual contact with a fairly long list of them."

Foster called the building a premium retail site in Grant County. There is exposure to state Route 17 and the building is conveniently location along Stratford Road, a major road in Moses Lake.

There is a need for more retailers, as ASPI Group's consultants told the company more than $1 billion in retail spending is lost in Grant County annually. 

ASPI Group is currently building a retail center along Patton Boulevard in Moses Lake. 

Another section of property near Moses Lake, ASPI Technology Park, is home to SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers' emerging plant.

ASPI Group describes itself as an "integrated real estate platform provider for aerospace, technology, heavy industrial, commercial and residential development, according to its website.