Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

We in the Tri Cities have been incredibly fortunate not to have experienced the huge decline in the housing market as many communities have; in fact, the Tri Cities housing starts are blossoming with a 255 percent increase in building permits over last year.  Almost 300 new homes are under construction currently with nearly half of those being built in Pasco.

This is the time of year when we lose an hour of sleep (darn) but we know that spring is on its way and that means sunshine and warmer weather here in the beautiful Tri Cities! Just as a reminder, this Saturday night before you head to bed, make sure that you set your clocks ahead 1 hour for daylight savings time.  (Those of us that forget to do this invariably end up being clueless as to why we end up late to everything on Sunday….speaking from experience here..LOL)

So Saturday night – spring forward!

Paul & Diane Santillie of Kennewick, who made such a wonderful success of their pasta and sauce business, Pasta Mama’s, are back in business after a 16 year absence. Their story is one of triumph and tragedy. They developed the pasta business and became outstanding small business leaders in the state of Washington. Then tragedy struck on what was supposed to be a celebration of Paul’s 50th birthday – a hot air balloon ride that no one living in the Tri Cities could forget. The result was Paul being paralyzed, the business failure due to the accident and finally, bankruptcy and loss of everything.  But like the Phoenix, the Santillie’s are rising again. They most recently signed a lease on a building on North Columbia Center Blvd where they will have a manufacturing area, a retail shop, a restaurant and a garment printing business.  Lots of their former vendors, customers and business associates have been encouraging them and keeping in contact over the years, and were delighted to hear the news that Pasta Mama’s is Back!  We wish them the very best in their endeavor.

According to Smartmoney.com, the Tri Cities is listed as number 1 among the top 5 communities in the nation that will see increases in home prices for the 4th quarter of 2010, with increases just under 4 percent.  The Tri Cities has seen a stable real estate market and continued job growth throughout the period of time that the rest of the country has been experiencing major decline in housing and job markets. Construction permits in Kennewick, Pasco and Richland have grown with Kennewick seeing increases over over 100 in the same period from 2009. CNN money.com reports that Kennewick appears to have gone against the tide with a slight gain in comparison to other communities. “The biggest winner will be in the Kennewick metro area where home prices ramped up 8.9 percent over the past three years and are expected to go up 3.4 percent by June 2010.”

Last night the issue of keeping Vista Field in Kennewick open for air traffic or close it and use it for future development, came down to the vote – and the vote was YES – Keep it Open!  So the private airport will continue to be open for public use, and also as an alternative for emergency landings, training of pilots and for use if the fog closes the Pasco or Richland airports, because Vista Field sits on high ground.  So now the issue is closed and we can all get back to other development possibilities for the city of Kennewick.

HB 2510 is headed to the governors desk for signature this week could potentially save Kennewick General Hospital millions and make the construction of their new hospital in the Southridge area a reality as soon as this summer.  In a short summary, the bill would allow hospitals to use the land they currently own as collateral towards the financing needed for construction.  Ground breaking this summer is the hope for the district.