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March 3, 2005


Shop’n Kart site to house retail mall
White Salmon developers plan national tenants

By TOM PETERSON
of The Dalles Chronicle

A White Salmon couple have purchased the former Shop’n Kart building in The Dalles and plan to attract several national retailers to the 43,000-square-foot space.

Thor and Kathy Lundh bought both building and property from Gershwin Properties LLC of Los Angeles, Calif., for $1.9 million, according to Wasco County records.

“This will bring in a combination of tenants and create at least 100 jobs,” Thor Lundh said Wednesday.

The Lundhs, who have put together five different mall projects in Vancouver, Wash., plan on bringing between 10 to 19 new retail tenants to the Shop’n Kart building, which is located just east of Kmart at 2600 W. Sixth St.

“We plan on filling the niches that are not being filled in The Dalles,” Lundh said while giving a tour of the building. “We want to bring in additional businesses, not duplicates.”

Lundh decided to make the move into The Dalles market after selling developments in Vancouver.

“We could have reinvested anywhere,” he said. “But we wanted to come here to create jobs and help people.”

The Lundhs also plan on moving to The Dalles after their children complete high school in White Salmon.

Lundh is working with two national retailers to fill about half the building space, which would anchor the new mall with one store taking 10,000 square feet and the other 12,000, he said.

The two retailers would be located at east and west ends of the building.

Then about 13 smaller retailers — most at the 1,500-square- foot size — would be located in the center portion of the building, with all stores interconnected by pass-throughs or hallways.

A demographics and marketing study is under way, and when it is completed, Lundh said, a deal between the two national retailers and himself could be hammered out.

Lundh said he hoped to have the building filled by September.

“We will do a total facelift on the building once we figure out what the retail mix is,” Lundh said. “The plan is to make it the nicest looking retail building in The Dalles.”

Lundh also plans on a second phase to the project, constructing an additional 33,000 square feet of retail space on land just east of the building. He said two different retailers are currently interested in that project.

Riverview Community Bank is financing the project, said Lundh.
Dale Connell, Vice President of the White Salmon Riverview Community Bank branch, said they financed the project in part based on the Lundhs’ past history of success in mall development.

“They’ve got a track record,” he said. “They’ve proven they know what they are doing.”

Lundh pointed out that Riverview Community Bank was key in making the building purchase.

“Its very difficult to get financing on a building that has been vacant for seven to eight years,” he said. “I thought it was really cool that a bank stuck its neck out because this is a nonconforming loan, and it’s not often that a bank will do that.”

In addition to Connell, Lundh said Riverview’s Vice president of Commercial Loans Mike Roberts was instrumental to making the deal work.

“They want to bring new jobs to this community in the same way that we do,” Lundh said.

Lundh also said The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce President Susan Huntington and the City of The Dalles provided excellent services in helping him get the information needed to purchase the building.

“I’m extremely impressed with what Susan Huntington has done here and also with the helpful people at the city,” he said. “It is very different from what you experience in other counties.”

Those interested in leasing space at the building, can call Kathy Lundh at (509) 493-4406.

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