Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

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.

How long has this issue about the antique carousel and where it should be located been discussed? It seems like forever and a day.  Although the horses have all been restored and are currently being housed in city storage in Kennewick, $860,000 has been spent thus far in studies etc., and to no avail. It appears the issue could be rising again out of the ashes…..maybe.  Kennewick Council members held a day long retreat recently to cover the pressing questions facing the city of Kennewick’s future development, when the carousel issue was again addressed, this time with new members to the council asking pointed questions as to its viability and cost.

The city council members of Kennewick recently held a retreat to discuss subjects that spanned being involved with the Regional Oversight Committee, potential building of regional facilities and how best to fund them,  the extension of Steptoe Street, development at Southridge and the Bridge-to-Bridge, River-to-Railroad project, and of course, the future of Vista Field.

Tonight March 8th at 6:30 pm in the Richland Public Library gallery room will be a meeting for Richland residents and business representatives to meet and discuss potential ideas for the Master Plan being developed for future changes to John Dam Plaza, located along George Washington wya and Jadwin Avenue. The Richland Parks and Recreation Department will be sponsoring the meeting.

Venture capitalism has gone through some rough patches over the last few years, needing to change the types of businesses to invest in, and with that change from software and biotechnology comes the shift into the fields of clean energy technology. That shift feeds right into the hands of many wonderful companies here in the Tri Cities, which is quickly becoming a nexus for this field, and that in itself is potentially attracting new business to the area.  Pacific Northwest National Labs has involved itself in the field of virtualization and visualization as a type of search technology, which can “Capture, analyze and understand data at volumes and rates that push the frontiers of current technologies.”  According to PNNL leaders, the sky’s the limit with this technology which makes it very attractive to investors, and that bodes well for continuing growth of the Tri Cities.