Richland extends deal for public market site

Plans to turn an unsightly pit at the entrance to Richland into a public market won a temporary reprieve Tuesday from the Richland City Council.

The council voted 4-1 to extend a key provision of a development agreement for the city-owned site at 650 George Washington Way with Crown Group Inc.

Councilman Phil Lemley voted against the 120-day extension without comment.

Without an extension, dreams of a public market populated by florists, produce vendors, growler fillers and coffee shops at Richland’s main entry would have collapsed, according to Adam Brault, the market’s primary advocate.

Brault and his partner, The Crown Group, based in Chicago, want a public market to anchor a mixed-use development with office and residential space as well as parking. The site has been vacant for more than 15 years and takes its nickname — the “pit” — from the hole left by excavators from a failed prior project.

Richland has made its impatience to see the property redeveloped in the near future known to its development partners.

The extension keeps the dream of a market-anchored project alive. The council previously extended the contract to Feb. 25, in part because the city itself wanted more time for staff and consultants to complete a visioning process for improvements to its downtown waterfront.

The public market has the potential to bring economic activity to downtown regardless of whether it is sited at the pit site or, as a consultant has advised the city, near the “fingernail” band shell in Howard Amon Park.

Councilwoman Sandra Kent made the motion for the extension.

Her vote is critical. Kent chairs the board of the Tri-Cities Regional Public Facilities District, which has the theoretical ability to ask voters to approve a sales tax increase.

Brault and his supporters had hoped the regional facilities district would include the market in a three-part “Grand Bargain” offering something to every voter in the Tri-Cities.

The market would require a roughly $18 million public subsidy to avoid saddling it with commercial debt that would push rents past the ability of the small vendors it hopes to serve, Brault has said.

The dream of a Grand Bargain is on hold while Kennewick moves to put its own theater-anchored project at Three Rivers Convention Center before voters, pre-empting the regional district from making its move. The Kennewick City Council voted 5 to 1 Tuesday night to authorize its own public facilities district to move ahead with the project.

The Richland market likely would not have been included in the package because the state law creating facilities districts does not specifically mention that type of development.

The regional district could be blocked, but it would only be for the duration of any new sales tax. It could play a role in advancing regional projects in the future.

Brault lauded the city council’s vote. The 120-day extension gives his group and the city time to assess the feasibility of siting the market at the George Washington Way site and to discuss what a public-private partnership might look like.

Now isn’t the time to rush decisions and act in haste, he said.

“We’ve all waited 15 years to fill the hole in the middle of town with greatness,” he told the council.

In related business, the city council set aside 30 minutes for Brault and the market board to present its vision at its next meeting. Two weeks ago, a standing-room-only crowd of market supporters packed the council chambers in a show of support for a public hearing.

The crowd overwhelmingly favored putting the market on George Washington Way rather than in Howard Amon Park.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Richland extends deal for public market site."