Investwest expects to begin grading by the end of this month or early April and to complete the 110,000-sf expansion in the fourth quarter this year. Of the 60,000 sf remaining to be leased in its project, the company expects to sign an anchor for 33,000 sf, a restaurant in the range of 5,000 sf to 7,000 sf at an out-parcel on the site and the remaining tenants in spaces of 1,500 sf to 6,000 sf.

Investwest points out that its project complements the current tenants in the Monterey Marketplace, which is owned by a number of different entities and has been developed over the past 10 years. The existing tenants include Home Depot, Linens 'N Things, Pacific Sales, a 16-screen Regal Movie Theater, McDonald's, Red Robin, Panda Express, Wendy's, IHOP and Clark's Nutrition & Grocery's 25,000-sf flagship store.

In addition to the Monterey Marketplace and the upcoming Investwest addition, the area near the Monterey Avenue exit of the Interstate 10 features a Costco/PetSmart center and the recently opened Desert Gateway, which includes Sams Club, Wal-Mart, Kohls and Ashley Furniture. Altogether, the retail developments total about 1.5 million sf and represent "unequivocally the most powerful retail intersection in the Coachella Valley," according to Paul Frederick, a partner with Investwest.

Frederick describes the Dinah Shore Drive/Monterey Avenue corridor as "the only location in the Coachella Valley that all 500,000 residents can access within a 25-minute drive time." Frederick and Nedelman are the in-house leasing managers for their project, which is part of a portfolio of retail, commercial, mixed-use and resort properties either under way or owned by Investwest throughout the Western US.