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

Construction on a new $4.6 million Comfort Suites hotel in Kennewick is expected to start this summer.

The four-story, 84-unit hotel will be built at 3703 Plaza Way, near two existing wine tasting rooms and a veterinary clinic. Dale Sweeney, a Bellevue-based  architect, is designing the property which is owned by Lincoln Asset Management, a Portland-based property management company with properties in Ellensburg, Yakima and Moses lake, as well as the Oregon Coast.

The Kennewick Planning Commission approved the project in September but the project was delayed. Project developers obtained building permits in early June to start construction on the project.

By Mary Hopkin, Journal of Business

Since its first vintage was released, the only place wine enthusiast could taste the big red wines made by well known winemaker Victor Cruz for Anelare was at Canon De Sol, in Benton City. But now, Anelare owners Forrest and Kathryn Alexander and Jim and Cathy Campbell have opened a new tasting room in Kennewick, where Tri-Cities residents and visitors can taste the Anelare’s Nonna Viola, a red blend that took home a gold medal at the Tri-Cities wine festival in November.

The intimate and artfully decorated tasting room is conveniently located in the new Southridge Village development at the corner of Highway 395 and Hildebrand road, across the highway from Canyon Lakes Golf Course. Anelare has previously been a private, limited bottling winery that distributed only 600 cases of wine. In 2007, its production went up to 800 cases, said Kathryn Alexander. Now Anelare can be found in select local grocery stores and the new tasting room will also help introduce Anelare’s wines to more wine lovers.

The tasting studio at 3617 Plaza Way, Suite B in Kennewick opened Friday. The regular winter hours will be from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and non to 4 p.m. Sunday. Seasonal hours will be adjusted and the tasting room will likely be open more often in the spring and summer month, said Alexander.

The studio also features a private tasting room, which can be scheduled for private sit-down tastings or business functions at any time. the sit-down tastings are $15 per person and include antipasti and are free for winery club members.

For more information or to make reservations for a private sit-down tasting, call the winery at 509-588-6171. For more information about Anelare, visit the website at 222.anelare.com