It's primarily been a sand and gravel pit for more than 50 years. However, the 17-acre parcel in the northeast corner of the intersection of Ramsey Road and West Appleway is on its way to becoming The Crossroads Coeur d'Alene, a retail center with WinCo Foods as the base occupant.

A site plan for the project shows a 142,854-square-foot WinCo building with retail shops attached along Marie Street on the north side of the property. Five other projected buildings in the development include a convenience store with gas pumps, a fast-food eatery with drive-through, a financial institution, and a sit-down restaurant, all completing a commercial circle from Marie Street on the north to Ramsey Road on the west to Appleway on the south to the east property line near Lowe's.

To hustle potential businesses, the site plan fliers by Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate include tempting numbers such as the average daily traffic being 43,200 vehicles in 2009, the adjacent Kroc Center (across Ramsey Road) having 16,500 members, easy access to Interstate 90, a population of 121,698 within 10 miles, the median household income being $47,923 and the median age being 37.

The anchor WinCo (shortened for "Winning Company") would open in late 2013 or early 2014 with about 200 employees and an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 shoppers per week. Established in 1967 in Boise under the name of Waremart, employee-owned WinCo now has 82 stores in six Western states. It will be the only grocery store serving the thousands of houses that Ramsey Road leads to the north and west.

Project developer Hughes Investments of Newport, Calif., has developed 23 retail centers throughout California and also has projects in Utah and Washington. Zanetti Bros. of North Idaho is the primary land interest. Realtors are Mike Gregg at 640-1400 and Pat Eberlin at 215-1375.

And Riverstone adds more stores

Main Street in the Riverstone development will add several new shops in August.

The announced stores are Bullman's Wood-Fired Pizza and Grooveberries self-serve frozen yogurt on the southwest corner toward Regal Cinemas and Pick 6 SportsCards and The Body Shop about midway on the north side of Main Street

Tom Gasper will have Pick 6, specializing in hard-to-find sports memorabilia and trading cards. He plans to have professional sports figures attend in-person signings in the 1,300-square-foot store.

His wife, Megan Gasper, and business partner Jamie Lee's Body Shop will be a personal fitness training studio with classes in zumba, yoga, group strength and cycling. Memberships will include discounts for Riverstone residents and business owners.

Both Bullman's and Grooveberries eateries will have indoor and outdoor seating.

Two more Riverstone tenants will be announced in the next month.

"We have been fortunate to see a substantial uptick in leasing activity," said Chris Schreiber, associate broker for Kiemle & Hagood Co.

We'll also have details later this month on the new LePeep Restaurant in Riverstone's Bellerive section along the Spokane River.

Now for the Tidbits

• The new next-door location of The Wine Cellar restaurant should open Aug. 1. Watch for the details.

• Maybe one reason people bring their dogs into the east entrance of Sanders Beach is that the "No dogs" (and other rules) sign is so high on the pole that people entering the beach don't see it. It also will be covered by tree branches before long.

• The Ulta fragrance and cosmetics store in Borders Books' former space along Highway 95 will open in August. More on that later also.

• Next week - details on the new Rustic Romance store on Fourth Street.

• Aaaargh! The TV weather people keep putting an apostrophe in the temperatures. "It will be in the 90s" is simply plural. Same with "I was born in the '40s" with the only apostrophe taking the place in the "19" in front of 40s.

• War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

• Contact Nils Rosdahl at nrosdahl@cdapress.com.