Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Aye! Are ye looking for yer ancestors that came from the Highlands? Balmoral? Or perhaps the Isles? The 10th annual Scottish Fest in Prosser could be the place for ye! Over these past 10 years, the Prosser event has become the premiere highland games in Central Washington State and again this year it will be held ar the Port of Benton Wine and Food Park in Prosser on June 19th.

Those attending will be delighted with the traditional Heavy Athletic Games and Highland Dance competitions and of course, the lilt of the pipes playing in the distance will be beckoning those in attendance, to listen to the massed pipe bands. Other Celtic music will be performed along with sheepdog trials, children’s activities, the Parade of Tartans and much more.  For those of you who are not familiar with the draw of the highland games, take this opportunity to experience the step back in time and become acquanited with a wee bit of the Scot in all of us!  Slante’

The three ports in the Tri-Cities area reported on the projects they have undertaken to help boost the economy of the Tri-City area recently.

Officials from the Port of Kennewick, Port of Pasco, and the Port of Benton, who comprise the Tri-Ports, spoke to about 200 individuals about their parts in promotion of economic development and adding to the growing job market in the area.

Discussion about the revamping of the Clover Island area, plus improvements at the Richland Manufacturing Mall, the Prosser Food and Wine Park, and the Benton City Industrial Park were also covered.  There will be efforts to update the Benton City area as well, by the Port of Benton and with that, the hope that other businesses will fall in line to spruce up their appearances and keep the efforts flowing.

The Port of Pasco has several projects underway, including the current construction of a potato processing plant at the Pasco industrial park, as well as  Parsons expanding its footprint in the Big Pasco center, and the port’s Riverfront Business Park project.

Our Tri-Cities area is growing with more and more businesses moving in, expanding, or investing here, we are looking at a brighter and stronger future for our Tri-Citians for many, many years to come.  The real estate market is strong and jobs continue to materialize for skilled workers. These are the reasons that the Tri-Cities, and Benton and Franklin counties have become at the top of list for best places to live and work continually.  Come join us in our beautiful corner of southeastern Washington State!

The city of Richland on Tuesday (August 25) took another step toward applying for a state program that would help pay for new development north of the Richland Airport.

The program would generate revenue to pay for $8.5 million in public improvements in Richland’s Revitalization Area for Industrial Science and Education, or RAISE.

The area encompasses the Horn Rapids Industrial Park, Horn Rapids Business Center, a portion of the Tri-Cities Research District and the Port of Benton.

If the Department of Revenue approves the city’s application into the program, the state would pay up to $327,000 annually — half the debt service on 20-year bonds to install streets, sidewalks, sewers, utilities and fiber-optic lines in the area. The city, likely with participation by Benton County and the Port of Benton, would provide a local match to cover the other half.

The project wouldn’t increase local tax rates, but 0.05 percent of the 8.3 percent sales tax rate in Richland would be shifted from the state’s share to the city’s share.

The city council on Tuesday voted unanimously to create the revitalization area, and the Benton County Commission on Monday voted 2-1 to pursue partnering with the city on the project.

Commissioner Max Benitz Jr. dissented because the port, though interested, hasn’t yet committed to participating, and he didn’t want to obligate it to. The port will be able to decide whether to join sometime after the Sept. 1 application date, but the county agreed to partner with the city to strengthen its application for the program.

The state, city, county and port would use tax revenue generated from new development within the area to pay back the bonds. The county and port’s contributions each would be capped at $73,000 a year.

The revitalization area would need to have about $155 million in new private development to generate that amount of new tax revenue, Gary Ballew, economic development manager for Richland, told the city council last week. There has been that much private investment in the area over the past five years, he said.

If no private development came into the area — and no new tax revenue was generated — the city could use other sources to cover the local match and keep the state contribution. But the city would be on the hook for the local match on its own, without the county or port having to contribute.

Several businesses such as Henningsen Cold Storage and Solaris group already have contacted the city about doing new private development in the area. Those projects were in the works regardless of the chance to be in the state’s program, Ballew said.

But they would be able to happen sooner because of the revenue the program would generate to pay for the public infrastructure, he said.

Council members expressed comfort with the risks involved with the project.

“The projects we would do with this kind of funding are projects we would have in the queue anyway and we want to do at some point in time,” Councilman Ed Revell said. “The only thing this does is allow us a tool to start those projects sooner.”

Source: Tri-City Herald

The future of Vista Field as an airport is still hung up on whether the city of Kennewick has any right to share proceeds from development if it is closed.

Port of Kennewick commissioners want the city council to give up all potential claims before they decide on keeping the airstrip or converting it into raw land available for commercial, office and retail development.

The council considered the port’s request Tuesday, weighing whether it was wise to surrender the right to control zoning on the land and to claim a share of proceeds if port officials choose to market the property to developers.

“There’s a lot of perception the city has involvement (in what happens with Vista Field),” said Bob Hammond, Kennewick city manager.

“But in reality there is very little for the city to “hang onto.” We need to make it clear to everyone we don’t have any authority over the airport,” Hammond told the council at its workshop.

David Hanson, port president, wrote to the city that commissioners are reluctant to make any decision about the airport until two sticky issues in an agreement between the city and port relating to the 92 acres of airport land are resolved.

The agreement was created when the city gave the land to the port on the condition that it be operated as an airport. The original agreement said the land would revert to the city if the port decided to stop managing the property as an airport.

The port was considering closing the airport last year but balked because of the reversionary clause in the agreement. The council responded by deleting that condition.

But now port officials want two more provisions in the agreement jettisoned: the zoning control and the city’s financial share in any proceeds from land sales involving airport property.

“Failure to remove these provisions leave us with a concern that the city could expect to share in any revenues related to closure. That would be a non-starter,” wrote Hanson in a letter to Kennewick Mayor Tom Moak.

“If this will expedite the port’s decision, then I’m all for it,” said Steve Young, councilman.

Hammond said leaving the two provisions in the agreement was “confusing.” He said taking them out would cause no problems legally because the council had previously rescinded its reversionary rights to the property.

“It would be removing a stumbling block,” Hammond said, noting that he will bring a proposal and motion for the council to consider in a vote in late September.

Hanson’s letter said the port commission will wait for an answer. “Our final decision-making process (about closing the airport) cannot begin until this issue is resolved,” he said.