Richland to have its front-door ‘pit’ a while longer

Richland will have to live with an unsightly pit at the city’s front door for at least a couple more years.

More than a year after the Richland City Council passed on a public market concept in favor of a commercial development at the city’s entrance, a date for starting construction at 650 George Washington Way is still unclear.

The council voted unanimously this week to amend its agreement with Crown Group, its Chicago-based developer, for the city-owned site.

The developer said it needs another year to secure financing for “Park Place”— the 106-unit apartment-and-retail complex it wants to build there.

The city agreed to extend its deal with Crown to mid-2018. Council member Sandra Kent was absent for the vote.

The amendment — the sixth since the city first agreed to sell the property 2015 — gives Crown time to pursue financing through the federal Housing and Urban Development agency. Construction won’t begin until financing is in place, meaning it is likely a year or more before any work begins.

The change coincides with a shift in the overall design that city staff say dramatically improves the overall vision for the controversial property.

“This project has tested council’s patience. It has tested staff’s patience as well,” said Darin Arrasmith, a planner in the city’s community and development services department.

Despite the delays and now six amendments to the original deal, Arrasmith said Crown’s latest site plan is its best to date.

The new vision is an apartment-and-retail complex project worthy of its location at the city’s entrance. Crown wants to build a four-story apartment building with 106 units at the rear of the property, facing Howard Amon Park.

It would also build two 3,350-square-foot retail buildings on the George Washington Way side with a pedestrian plaza between them.

“This is a good project,” Arrasmith said.

Under the amended agreement, Crown Group will pay an additional $30,000 non-refundable earnest money deposit toward the eventual purchase of the property.

The new agreement sets a mid-2018 deadline to close on financing and gives Crown an additional year to commit to actually building the project.

Council members may be frustrated with the lengthy delays for the “gateway” project. But they’re happy that the added time is yielding a better project.

“”It’s a good change,” remarked Councilman Phil Lemley. “This is low in front and high in back. It looks nice.”

Mayor Bob Thompson agreed.

“The frustration that council has felt and staff has felt, I think, is richly deserved,” he said. But he praised the design and the minutiae of the new agreement.

“I feel confident that some of the safeguards that are now built into the contract will get us to where the community wants us to be.”

Lemley said he’s just happy to see a property that’s become a flashpoint for the city face the future. Commonly known as “650 Gway,” the excavated pit is what remains from a development that failed more than a decade ago.

“We’re going to get rid of the tagline ‘hole in the ground’ once and for all,” he joked.

The Crown Group, led by Mark Lambert, initially agreed to build an office-and-retail project at the high-profile intersection. It later partnered with advocates for including a regional public market at the property.

The market idea gained a strong following but the city council rejected it in April 2016 after several emotional hearings. The office tenant backed out and market advocates now hope to work out a deal in Pasco.

In November, the city council voted 3-2 to allow Crown to drop the office component in favor of 60 or more apartments. With a regional vacancy rate of just 2.2 percent in the spring, there’s no shortage of demand for apartments in the Tri-Cities.

The Runstad Center for Real Estate at the University of Washington, conducts a biannual survey of property managers. Its spring survey of Benton and Franklin landlords indicated the shortage is having an impact on rent. The average rent for a one-bedroom unit was $855 in the spring, nearly 11 percent more than a year earlier.

The retail space has not been leased but could be occupied by any number of businesses, including coffee shops, restaurants or professional services seeking a high-visibility location.

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Richland to have its front-door ‘pit’ a while longer."