Developers building more apartments in Tri-Cities

Tri-City apartment complexes have record high occupancy rates, and that's beginning to prompt developers to begin building more apartments.

Projects now in various stages of planning could provide another 475 units over the next year.

The developer of a 144-unit complex called Island View Apartments in Richland recently applied for a building permit.

It would be built on a seven-acre parcel on Columbia Park Trail near Georgia Avenue, said Joe Organick, director of development for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based The Wolff Co., a private real estate investment company.

Though the Tri-Cities rental apartment market has seen many ups and downs, it seems to be a good time to build and hold onto property, said Organick, who developed Kennewick's The Orchard at Hansen Park apartment complex in 2003 and sold it in 2007.

Organick declined to give a cost estimate for his project, but said finding money for new projects is not easy. "Banks remain cautious and conservative. You have to invest a lot of equity before a bank starts loaning the money," he said.

The project will have one- and two-bedroom apartments with one bathroom, as well as two-bedroom units with two baths. Hanford workers and office and retail employees working close to Columbia Center mall may be potential tenants at the complex, which will offer river views, he said.

The company expects to break ground in early August and complete work in about a year.

There's a strong need for additional rental housing, said Terence Thornhill, a Pasco-based architect who's working with a developer on a 228-unit apartment complex behind Target on Queensgate Drive in Richland.

The approximately eight-acre parcel is in the process of being rezoned to help Thornhill's client build Regency Park Apartments, he said. The city helped with site selection and is working with the developer to move the project forward, he said.

Rick Simon, Richland's development services manager, said the city has a shortage of land designated for multi-family homes. But he said the city offered some ideas when the developer began looking for a site.

The Queensgate area has infrastructure in place and an apartment complex there would complement the nearby retail space, Simon said.

Thornhill said his client researched other places across the nation before buying the land in Richland three months ago.

"It's a good market to build in because Hanford employment is stable and the demand for apartments is rising," he said.

Regency Park Apartments would offer one-, two- and three-bedroom options, and amenities such as a pool and a club house. Ground breaking on the complex, which is expected to cost $14 million to $18 million, is expected to be in late summer or early fall, Thornhill said.

At least two other Tri-City apartment complexes recently announced plans to expand.

Richland's On the Boulevard apartment complex announced plans to add 32 one-bedroom units at its existing location. Construction starts this fall and is scheduled to be completed next spring.

And owners of The Crossings at Chapel Hill in Pasco said they plan to complete the first of three proposed 24-unit buildings by November.