Entezar's big plans: 659-acre project on Spanish Castle Road will take 8 years and cost $500 million.(REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION)

Pretty soon people from the other Side of the big hill will have another reason to visit Central Washington.

Wade Entezar is just about ready to break ground on his 659-acre, $500 million Basalt Canyon, a planned unit development on Spanish Castle Road in Douglas County.

It will be the largest development of its kind in the area to date.

"Western Washington is over rated," Entezar said. "Eastern Washington is where it is at, and is where people want to be and they've got the money to make it happen."

In January, Douglas County commissioners approved zoning and preliminary site plan calls for the development that will include 1,140 residences, a golf course, equestrian center, a 20,000-square-foot spa and wellness center, a 100-room hotel, restaurants, theater, as well as a community winery that will be part …