What Spokane’s Biggest Retail Leases Tell Us About Boise’s Leasing Market

The most interesting retail deals aren’t always the flashy new restaurants or national brands taking small storefronts.

Sometimes the biggest signal comes from a gym signing a lease for more than 31,000 square feet and committing to the property for over 16 years.

That’s exactly what happened in Spokane during the second quarter of 2026. And while Spokane and Boise are different markets, the deals provide some useful clues about where retail leasing is heading across growing Northwest cities.

According to reporting by CoStar Research, Planet Fitness, Spencer’s, Domini Sandwiches, Izzie’s K-Dogs and Out of the Box Boutique were among the Spokane transactions selected for CoStar’s second-quarter Power Broker Quarterly Deal Awards. The original CoStar News article provides details on the individual leases and brokers involved.

For Boise commercial real estate, the takeaway isn’t simply which companies leased space in Spokane. It’s what these deals say about tenant demand, shopping-center strategy and the changing definition of retail.

Big Retail Spaces Need New Uses — and Fitness Keeps Answering the Call

The headline transaction was Planet Fitness at Southgate Shopping Center in Spokane.

The fitness company leased 31,557 square feet in the approximately 90,000-square-foot center. Even more notable was the term: more than 16 years.

That’s a serious commitment.

For shopping-center owners, large-format fitness has become an important part of the tenant mix because gyms can absorb spaces that are difficult to fill with traditional retailers.

A large vacant box isn’t easy to lease.

There simply aren’t that many retailers looking for 20,000, 30,000 or 40,000 square feet anymore.

Fitness changes the equation.

Gyms can take substantial square footage while generating repeat customer visits throughout the week. Customers may visit three, four or five times per week—far more often than they would visit many conventional retailers.

That traffic can help neighboring businesses.

Coffee shops, smoothie concepts, restaurants, wellness businesses and service tenants can all potentially benefit from having a high-volume fitness operator nearby.

For retail leasing Boise, that’s an important lesson.

When a large-format vacancy appears in Boise, Meridian, Nampa or Caldwell, landlords shouldn’t necessarily focus exclusively on finding another traditional retailer.

Fitness, recreation, entertainment, healthcare and other service-oriented businesses may offer better solutions.

Spokane’s Deals Show How Diverse Modern Retail Has Become

The rest of Spokane’s recognized transactions tell an equally interesting story.

Spencer’s signed a new 2,764-square-foot lease at Northpointe Plaza, a 177,613-square-foot shopping center owned by Kite Realty Group Trust.

Domini Sandwiches renewed approximately 2,500 square feet at The Marjorie.

Izzie’s K-Dogs leased 1,994 square feet at the Crescent Building for its first permanent location after building awareness through local popups.

And independent apparel retailer Out of the Box Boutique signed a new 1,748-square-foot lease at Southgate Shopping Center.

Put those tenants next to Planet Fitness and you get a good picture of modern retail demand:

• Large-format fitness
• National specialty retail
• Established local restaurants
• Emerging food concepts
• Independent boutiques

That’s very different from the shopping-center model of decades ago, when landlords could fill most properties with traditional merchandise retailers.

Today’s successful centers often need a much broader mix.

The common thread isn’t necessarily what the tenant sells.

It’s whether the business gives customers a reason to visit the property.

Experience and Frequency Matter More Than Ever

This is particularly relevant for Boise development.

Online shopping has changed the role of physical retail, but it hasn’t eliminated demand for good commercial locations.

Instead, physical space is increasingly being used for things customers can’t easily replicate online.

You can’t exercise at Planet Fitness through an Amazon delivery.

You can’t eat a fresh sandwich online.

You can’t experience Korean street food through a website.

And while apparel can certainly be purchased online, independent boutiques can compete by offering curation, service and a local shopping experience.

That shift changes how landlords should think about tenant mix.

A center filled entirely with businesses that customers visit once every few months may struggle to generate consistent traffic.

A center combining fitness, restaurants, medical services, beauty, entertainment and traditional retail can create multiple reasons for people to return throughout the week.

Frequency matters.

The more often customers visit a property, the more opportunities neighboring tenants have to capture additional spending.

Local Concepts Can Become Valuable Real Estate Tenants

The Izzie’s K-Dogs lease is another transaction worth watching.

The Korean street-food concept moved from local popups into its first permanent location at Spokane’s Crescent Building.

That’s a common path for emerging retail and restaurant businesses.

A concept starts at farmers markets, food trucks, popups or temporary events. If the operator develops a following and proves demand, the next step is often permanent real estate.

Boise has a strong entrepreneurial food and retail scene, making this especially relevant locally.

For landlords, emerging operators can create opportunities—but they require different underwriting than established national tenants.

A landlord may need to look beyond a traditional balance sheet and evaluate:

• Sales history
• Social media following
• Customer demand
• Operating experience
• Concept differentiation
• Personal guarantees
• Tenant improvement requirements
• Available working capital

The right emerging concept can become a destination tenant.

The wrong one can become an expensive vacancy.

That makes tenant selection particularly important.

Renewals May Be Just as Important as New Leases

New tenant announcements usually receive the most attention.

But one of Spokane’s recognized transactions was a renewal.

Domini Sandwiches renewed its 2,500-square-foot location at The Marjorie.

From a property owner’s perspective, that’s important.

Keeping a successful tenant can often be far more profitable than replacing one.

A vacancy can mean months without rent, brokerage commissions, construction expenses, free rent and new tenant improvement allowances.

Even after signing a replacement tenant, the landlord may wait months before rent begins.

A good renewal avoids much of that disruption.

For Boise landlords, this is why lease expiration management should begin well before a tenant’s lease actually expires.

If a strong tenant has 12 or 18 months remaining, the conversation shouldn’t necessarily wait until the last minute.

Understanding whether that tenant wants to stay, expand, shrink or relocate gives the landlord time to make better decisions.

Local Insight: Boise Shopping Centers Should Focus on Visit Frequency

The Spokane transactions reinforce something I see as increasingly important in Boise commercial real estate: shopping centers need tenants that create reasons for customers to come back.

The Planet Fitness lease is a perfect example.

A 31,557-square-foot gym doesn’t just fill a big vacancy.

It can potentially generate thousands of recurring customer visits.

That traffic has value beyond the gym itself.

Imagine the surrounding tenant mix:

A coffee shop captures the morning workout crowd.

A smoothie concept benefits after workouts.

A physical therapist or chiropractor serves fitness-oriented customers.

A restaurant captures evening traffic.

A salon or service business benefits from people already visiting the center.

That’s how tenant mix can create value.

For landlords, the question shouldn’t only be:

“How much rent will this tenant pay?”

It should also be:

“What will this tenant do for the rest of the property?”

Sometimes the highest-rent tenant isn’t necessarily the tenant that creates the greatest overall value.

What Boise Landlords and Developers Can Take From Spokane

Spokane and Boise share several characteristics.

Both serve as regional commercial centers. Both attract surrounding communities for shopping and services. Both have experienced population growth and changing consumer patterns.

That makes Spokane a useful comparison market.

The second-quarter leasing activity suggests several things Boise property owners should continue watching.

Large-format retail space may increasingly be filled by fitness, recreation, entertainment and healthcare rather than traditional merchandise stores.

Local concepts can become meaningful tenants when they’ve demonstrated customer demand.

Established national specialty retailers still value strong shopping-center locations.

Successful restaurants can provide durable occupancy through lease renewals.

And tenant mix is becoming increasingly important to the overall performance of retail properties.

For investors evaluating Boise investment property, those factors should be considered alongside cap rates and current rents.

A shopping center isn’t simply a collection of leases.

It’s an ecosystem of businesses.

The stronger those businesses work together, the more durable the property’s traffic and income can become.

Retail Isn’t Disappearing — It’s Evolving

The Spokane deals demonstrate something that often gets lost in discussions about e-commerce.

Physical retail isn’t dead.

It’s changing.

The winners increasingly include businesses built around services, food, fitness, experiences, convenience and specialized products.

That’s exactly what Boise landlords, developers and investors should be watching.

As the Treasure Valley continues adding residents, demand for retail space will grow—but the types of businesses occupying that space will continue evolving.

The strongest commercial properties will be the ones capable of evolving with them.

Mike Gioioso (joy-OH-so) has for 16+ years been helping companies of all sizes buy, build, and lease perfect places for business in greater Boise, Idaho and beyond.
www.streetsmartidaho.com mike@streetsmartidaho.com 208-209-9166

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