Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

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

Tri-Citians can help shape the future of Columbia Drive by taking an online survey and sharing their thoughts.

The input will help consultants hired by the Port of Kennewick develop a plan for 28 acres of riverfront south of Clover Island to spruce up the area and the shoreline between Clover Island and the cable bridge.

The survey, put together by Kennewick’s Arculus Design & Technical Services, is available at www.arculus.net. Click on projects and then on Columbia Drive Revitalization Plan.

The site also offers a downloadable copy of the draft plan, which proposes having an IMAX theatre, gondola, ice skating rink and lawn bowling court in the revitalized downtown area near Clover Island.

A carousel, amphitheater, condos, and restaurants are some of the other proposed features. The plan also shows many options, such as walking paths, wildlife viewing and paddleboat rentals, to enhance the charm of Duffy’s Pond and Catfish Island.

It’s about revitalizing downtown Kennewick and helping it become a destination in the next decade or so, port officials say.

It’ll reinvigorate the area, help the downtown identify itself and give community members something to readily connect to, said Steve Mallory, principal architect at Arculus.

The Arculus team continues to give presentations to community leaders and stakeholders to solicit ideas to take the project forward, he said.

Rep, Larry Haler, R-Richalnd, recently suggested potential funding options for the project after a presentation, Mallory said.

Ben Franklin Transit’s suggestion to have a transit center will be incorporated into the next draft plan, said Chris Baugh, project lead for Arculus. It’ll be on the southeast end of Columbia Park, he said.

A suggestion to have a pedestrian walkway on Washington Street to connect to historic downtown also will be included on the next draft, Mallory said.

The idea behind the survey is to get everyone involved and tweak the plans as needed, he said. “We’re completely open.”

A link to the survey is also available at the Port of Kennewick website at www.portofkennewick.org.

Source: Tri-City Herald

Vista Field, particularly the 70 acres used for the airport operations, is worth about $5.33 million, the Port of Kennewick Commission was told Tuesday.

Gary Chamberlain of Chamberlain and Associates, which did an appraisal of the port-owned property, said that was the estimated value as of April 1.

Having that information may play a role in the commission’s decision about the future of Vista Field, said Tim Arntzen, the port’s executive director. The appraisal will be a useful tool for port officials, he said.

“We can’t set a budget unless we know what this creature called Vista Field is going to throw at us,” Arntzen said.

Chamberlain said the audit indicates the property after development and improvements would fetch about $9.65 million at today;s prices. But it would take about nine years to sell all the parcels, thereby reducing the real gains, he said. The discounted value, calculated assessing risks, would come to about $5.66 million, he said.

The report comes with a caveat, Chamberlain told the commissioners.

It’s based on an assumption that the land is vacant — and suitable for commercial and industrial development — with access to roads and offsite utilities, and is shovel ready. It also doesn’t include the costs of potential environmental mitigation and asphalt removal if the airport were to be closed.

The report also assumed that a single developer would purchase the entire parcel and be responsible for the master plan, and that there’s no major change in the economic health of the community. From 1998 through 20008, the Tri-Cities had healthy growth, but there’s no way to predict future trends, Chamberlain said. “In reality, the absorption could be 15 years.”

In a separate development, a Benton County pilot who supports keeping the airport open raised the issue of potential conflict concerning Port Commissioner Calvin Dudney, who was elected last year to fill out former Commissioner Linda Boomer’s term through November.

Dudney serves of the board of the Kennewick Public Facilities District, Chep Gaunett told the commission, adding that’s an appointment made by the city of Kennewick, which also is responsible for a budget shortfall of the district.

“I’m not accusing him of anything,” Gaunett said. But there could be a possible conflict on any vote on matters related to Vista Field, Gaunett said. He requested that port commissioners get a legal opinion on the matter.

Dudney said he volunteers with several Tri-City organizations, including the Tri-City Water Follies Association, Tapteal Foundation and Leadership Tri-Cities. It’s his way of serving the community, said Dudney, a Fluor community program manager who estimates he spends over seven hours a week volunteering.

Source: Tri-City Herald

Businesses may be struggling nationwide but they seem to be holding their own in West Richland.

About 20 new businesses – tanning salons, real estate companies and financial advisers – have come to West Richland in the past two years, says Mary Hays, executive director of the West Richland Area Chamber of Commerce. More than 75 percent of the city’s commercial property is occupied, something not many communities can boast about, said mayor Dale Jackson.

The city of about 12,500 people has been known as a Hanford bedroom community and has struggled for years to develop more of a retail base. But, officials say, they’re slowing gaining a commercial foothold.

Jackson confirmed a hotel chain has agreed to look at the almost 8,000-acre Lewis and Clark Ranch as a potential destination resort.

A national restaurant has shown interest in opening near Kadlec Clinic West Richland Primary Care at the corner of Bombing Range and Keene roads.

Jackson credits the city’s hiring of an economic development specialist about two years ago to help recruit new businesses and population growth for generating additional revenue. Also, having Yoke’s Fresh Market as an anchor tenant on Bombing Range Road helped attract several small businesses, Jackson said. Small businesses like restaurants often tend to cluster and grow, he said.

The growth has spurred taxable retail sales, which increased 35 percent to about $18.9 million in the last quarter of 2008, compared with the same time the year before.

By the end of March, the city’s share of retail tax revenue was up 29 percent, compared with the same period last year, said Jackson. It’s significant considering surrounding cities have lost retail tax revenue.

He says the city needs more retail growth and economic development to capture an estimated 41.5 million in sales tax that gets leaked to other cities when West Richland residents shop elsewhere. That number comes from comparing the state’s average per capita sales tax and the amount the city collects.

Because a variety of services now are locally available, people living in West Richland won’t have to travel to other cities, Hays said.

Henry’s Restaurant & Catering moved from Richland to West Richland’s Van Giesen Street in November.

Hays and her husband launched The Sandberg Event Center & Gardens at 331 S. 41st Avenue. The couple also started another business nearby, The Gathering Place Bistro & Gifts earlier this year.

White Bluffs Center for Quilting & Fiber Arts recently opened on West Van Giesen. It’s an organization of quilting, weaving, spinning and basketry guilds and groups that offers classes and helps Tri-City fiber artists to sell their creations, said Virginia Treadway, president of the center’s board of directors. The group decided to set up shop in the city because “the city understood the economic benefits of having us,” Treadway said.

Business has been really good, said Darrell Toombs, manager at the West Richland Yoke’s. The continued growth of the city has helped the store, which opened about three years ago and employs about 90 people.

A lot of out-of-towners who come to the West Richland Municipal Golf Course often shop at local businesses, said course owner Michelle Marcum. It’s about convenience, she said.

She said the improvements she made at the course helped bring in golfers to the community. “Membership has grown about 10 percent a year.”

Currently, she’s operating a restaurant, bar and pro shop in a temporary 2,800-square foot building but she plans to build a new clubhouse in a few months. Marcum also recently hired Joe Perdue, a Class A pro-golfer from Michigan, as director of the golf course.

She said she thinks the addition of a hotel in town will help support retail business. Often she sends golfers from outside the Tri-Cities who want to spend some time in the area, to stay in hotels in other cities, Marcum said.

A majority of city residents are young professional families with disposable income, Jackson said. “We’re growing as a young family community.”

Henry’s owner Don Karger said a desire to expand his catering business and to be close to customers brought him to West Richland. The city council and staff helped him with permitting to make the relocation process go smoothly, he said. “We started remodeling in middle of September and we opened in the middle of November,” he said.

Karger expects the town to develop in a big way in the next five years or so. “Richland can’t expand too much any more. But West Richland can,” he said.

The City has a vision and a plan, says Jackson, that includes revitalization of the Van Giesen corridor and zoning changes to promote mixed use development, particularly in the proposed Red Mountain Center near Van Giesen and Ruppert Road.

Also, the development of Lewis and Clark Ranch, a conceptual master planned destination community in the northwestern part of town, and new wine-related businesses at the foot of Red Mountain are on the city’s to-do list, Jackson said.

The development may not happen overnight, but the city’s partnership with the Port of Kennewick, local chamber of commerce and businesses will pave the way for future growth, said Jackson who recently attended an International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas.

Developers are definitely interested in knowing more abut west Richland, he said.