Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

A new grant from HUD’s Hispanic Serving Institutions Assisting Communities program will be used by Pasco’s Columbia Basin College to work with groups in the community towards downtown Pasco revitalization.

The $600,000 grant will be used towards improving the appearance of some storefronts and additionally providing marketing plans and support training to business owners. The focus is to make downtown Pasco a more inviting environment for shoppers and for events in which the community can participate.

Today 9/09

Benton County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., Washington State University Extension office, Benton County Annex, 5600 W Canal Dr.: discuss budget for the operation of the Moderate Risk Waste Facility, grant funding for 2010-2011, status of the organics study.

Pasco School Board, 6:30 pm, Booth building, 1215 W. Lewis St.: discuss opening student enrollment and the 2010 levy election.

Kennewick School Board, 5:30 pm, administration building, 524 S Auburn: discuss the levy timeline, architect selection update, Fourth Avenue Center timeline, elementary modernization timeline and a second reading of a policy on high school graduation requirements.

Thursday 9/10

Port of Pasco Commission, 9:30 a.m., commission chambers, 904 E Ainsworth Avenue: update on the Tri-Cities Airport Business Center.

Richland Parks and Recreation Commission, 7 p.m., city hall council chambers, 505 Swift Blvd: capital facilities projects and recommendations for 2010 budget; recommendation to fund cultural study for the Howard Amon Park irrigation project.

Ben Franklin Transit, 7 p.m., Three Rivers Transit Center, 7109 W Okanogan Place, Kennewick, to discuss petition from Prosser residents.

On August 31, there was a cyber race to push the “submit” button on the Washington Department of Revenue’s website.

Whoever is first in line will have first dibs on a $2.5 million pot of money offered expressly for local revitalization projects.

That’s $2.5 million a year, through the year 2035 – or $62.5 million in the long form.

Kennewick wants $500,000 and Richland wants $333,000. And who knows how many other cities and public agencies in the state want a share of the prize. The grant is unusual in that the agencies who submit qualified applications and are among the first to hit that electronic trigger will be rewarded.

“It’s first come, first served,” said Marie Mosely, Kennewick’s director of support services. The maximum grant is $500,000, which means there could be only five winners, theoretically. It all depends on how many ask for how much.

“It’s a challenge,” said Mosely, adding no one except the state has any idea how many agencies might be poised for the 9 a.m, cyber start.

“(State officials) have said they will be tracking this in milliseconds and that only one (submitter) will be processed at a time.” Mosely said.

The unusual way of awarding the grants is the state’s way of seeing how much interest there is in a Local Revitalization Financing Program. The Legislature authorized the pilot program this summer, giving little time for cities and other public agencies to prepare applications.

Basically, the state is offering a cash advance of up to $500,000 annually as seed money to public entities that promise to use the money to develop infrastructure that will promote growth of business and development and create jobs, which will in turn produce increased state tax revenues. In the long term, the state expects to recoup its investment through increased property and sales taxes.

Kennewick wants the $500,000 to help pay for bonds that would build roads and infrastructure in the Southridge area. It has the backing of the Port of Kennewick, Benton County and the Kennewick Public Hospital District, whose commissioners have agreed to give their share of expected property and sales tax revenues associated with the growth to help to pay for the improvements.

Mosely said Kennewick is counting on being among the winners, but won’t know the results for up to 60 days. The state has reserved two months of reviewing the applications and determining which of the first-in applicants deserve the grants, she said.

“We expect to get a time stamp, but we won’t know where we are in the line-up or if we won,” Said Mosely.

“It’s a lot of money and we’ve got a lot riding on it. If we don’t we get this, we will have to go back and start over,” she said.

Spread out over 25 years, Kennewick stands to collect $12.5 million.

Bill King, Richland deputy city manager, said the city wants to use the $330,000 to pay for $8.5 million in bonds to bring road, water, sewer and broadband improvements to the research district, business park and industrial park in North Richland,

Richland’s city council voted to pursue the Local Revitalization Financing Program after learning about Kennewick’s plan for the Southridge area.

Source: Tri-City Herald

Source: Tri-City Herald

Kennewick could have its long-desired convention center hotel with a real estate deal approved Tuesday by the city council.

The council agreed on a real estate sales and purchase agreement with The Provost Group of Santa Rosa, California, for 2.25 acres the city decided three weeks ago that it would offer for sale. The agreed upon price is $563,482.

Jeff Kossow, Kennewick’s economic development directed, said The Provost Group wants the property developed as a multi-story headquarters hotel, which would be adjacent to the Three Rivers Convention Center in the Vista Entertainment Center. The sales agreement allows 180 days for the purchaser to investigate development options.

The hotel would have all the amenities necessary for a headquarters hotel that serves the convention center. The agreement calls for a restaurant, bar, room service, fitness room and pool. A $5,000 deposit secures the sale agreement.

The Provost Group must submit building plans within six months after closing and begin construction within 18 months of closing. The city has the right to take back the property if conditions of the agreement are not completed according to the timeline.

The two-acre sale agreement follows a similar deal by The Provost Group with the city in May for nine acres, also in the Vista Entertainment District near the convention center. The property has not yet been developed.

The Provost Group also cemented a sales agreement earlier Tuesday for 15 acres owned by the Kennewick Irrigation District in the same area. That gives the Santa Rosa property development and management company control of about 27 acres in the Vista Entertainment District.

“This is an exciting time for those of us who’ve been involved with the convention center,” said councilman Steve Young. He was on the Kennewick Facilities District Board of Directors eight years ago when it was created to design, build and open the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick.

Young said the original vision to have a headquarters hotel next to the convention center is finally becoming reality.

Kossow said representatives of The Provost Group have already contacted national hotel chains. “They want to move quickly on this,” he said.

Kossow said the deal has been several years in the making. Kennewick city staff contacted The Provost Group during an International Shopping Centers Conference: “We knocked on their door, and they answered,” he said.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the council:

– Approved a resolution creating a Southridge Revitalization Area of about 1,600 acres and authorized the City Manager Bob Hammond to negotiate agreements between the city, Port of Kennewick, Benton County and Kennewick General Public Hospital District to participate in a Local Revitalization Financing Program sponsored by the state.

The program offers up to $500,000 a year in tax revenues for up to 25 years to the city to help build infrastructure in the Southridge area that would promote growth of business and jobs.

The county and hospital commissioners have said they are willing to give their share of expected property and sales tax revenues associated with the growth to help pay for the improvements.

Port commissioners are supportive but have reservations about how their contribution would be spent. The Port of Kennewick decided earlier Tuesday to opt out of the revitalization financing program.

The port would have to fork over $350,000 in future property taxes within the Southridge area to help prepare the area for development. But the port unanimously decided it didn’t want to participate without knowing how its share would be spent, said Tim Arntzen, the port’s executive director.

Part of the revitalization area includes land the port sold to a developer in 2006, and the port can’t legally spend money to provide infrastructure to that land, he said. The developer of South Ridge Village agreed to put in roads, sewer, water and electric lines as part of the purchase agreement for the port’s 150 acres, Arntzen said.

The port may reconsider joining the revitalization area if it can sign an interlocal agreement with Kennewick spelling out the Southridge infrastructure development plans more clearly, Arntzen said. The port would like to have more control on how its share is used, he said.

Dean Maldonado, who with his partners owns more than 200 acres in Southridge, said finding financing for infrastructure in the current economy is extremely difficult. Kennewick needs to have the interlocal agreements completed in time to apply for the state’s Local Revitalization Funding program Sept. 1

The maximum that could be handed out would be five grants of $500,000 each, which will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, said Marie Mosely, the city’s director of support services.

Councilman James Hempstead noted that if the city is successful, the grant will help develop the Southridge area without having to impose new taxes on Kennewick citizens. “It’s good for the state as well,” said Mosely, who explained that by fronting money to the city for the development, the state will receive new sales taxes that come from the new businesses.

Of Richland’s more than 2,400 acres of parks, about 500 acres feature ballfields and active play areas – not nearly enough to support the city’s growth, Doug Stone, Richland’s parks and recreation director, told the council.

“We have lots of park land,” he said. “But what are we missing? We’re missing sports fields.” Strong outlined at the council workshop nearly 40 acres of turfed ball fields and active play area that need to be developed in the next five to 10 years to keep up with city growth.

He said the timing of the phased projects would depend on community demand and funding, which would probably come from community partnerships and grants.

The projects that city staff recommended be completed in the next five to 10 years include:

• Completion of Babe Ruth Baseball Complex. This nearly $3.3 million project at the community park and sports complex in Horn Rapids in north Richland would include paving the two parking lots and access road, construction of restrooms and a concession stand, the installation of lights on all four baseball fields, lighting the parking lot, the construction of a challenger baseball field for physically challenged youth, concrete bleachers, block dugouts for two fields, shade structures and landscaping.

The four fields at the tentatively name Atomic Community Park — the name has yet to be approved by the council — will provide the only public baseball fields for youth 13 and older, city staff said.

• The first phase of developing the nearly 117-acre Atomic Community Park’s multisports complex. This complex will feature five multispurpose fields for sports such as lacrosse, soccer, football and Ultimate Frisbee on 23 acres of land.

The nearly $3.3 million project along Highway 240 also would include the constructoin of a restroom, an concession building, 2.5 acres of paved parking and one lighted  multipurpose field constructed with field turf.

• Badger Mountain Park. The nearly $2.6 million proposed improvements to the south Richland park includes a 6,000 square foot water spray area, tennis courts, sand volleyball courts, a ballfield, playground equipment, a restroom building, an additional paved parking lot, open space for turf areas a five-acre dog park.
• Improvements to the west wide of Claybell Park. Improvements to the south Richland park includes adding two full-sized fields such as soccer and lacrosse, moving the existing tennis courts to more solid land and doubling the number of courts to four, renovating an existing field for softball and turning an old field into natural green space and habitat education area. This phase of improvements would cost $927,000.
• Columbia Playfield. The nearly $1.8 million in improvements to Columbia Playfield in central Richland include relcating a Little League field, converting a drainage ditch on the north end of the property to an underground pipe system, the construction of an additional parking area, constructing a new restroom and concession facility and developing a trail system through the entire park.

Source: Tri-City Herald

Kennewick, Pasco and Richland will receive almost $1.3 million in grants for energy efficiency and conservation projects from the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“The jobs this funding creates in construction and energy development will be a much-needed boost to local economies,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in a statement.

Kennewick will receive $589,700, Pasco will receive $495,500 and Richland will receive $204,300, they learned Thursday.

The money is part of $56 million to be awarded to Washington and some of its counties and cities. “Local leaders will have the flexibility in how they put these resources to work,” said vice president Biden.

Cities receiving the money based on their size and energy use under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program must submit plans on how they would use the money.

After they receive the money they must report to the Department of Energy the number of jobs created or retained, energy saved, renewable energy capacity installed, greenhouse gas emissions reduced and funds leveraged.

“City, county and state governments are ready to step up and address our country’s significant energy challenges, and these funds will allow them to do that with dividends for years to come,” said maria Cantwell, D-Wash., in a statement.

The block grants were authorized as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The money is intended to be used for projects that reduce total energy use and fossil fuel emissions and improve energy efficiency.

Money can be used for a wide range of projects, including transportation projects that conserve energy. That could include bike lanes, pedestrian walkways and synchronized traffic lights.

Cities can choose to spend the money to install renewable energy technology in government buildings, such as solar power or light emitting diodes.

Pasco is working to identify potential energy savings in city buildings, said City Manager Gary Cruthfield, adding department managers have been asked to look for possible ways to save energy.

Money spent now should yield savings for years to come, Cruthfield said.