WSU Tri-Cities, developer part ways on student housing proposal

Washington State University Tri-Cities is back at square one in its bid to bring on-campus housing to its north Richland campus.

The university recently announced that a year of discussions with developer Riverwalk Student Housing on the project failed to result in an agreement. The developer was the only party to submit a bid for the project when the port and university asked for proposals in 2014.

It wasn’t clear what led Riverwalk and the university to part ways, though university spokesman Jeffrey Dennison said “financial incompatibility” was an issue. He declined to give further details.

“We didn’t think the one deal we had on the table was going to work for us,” Dennison said.

Representatives with Riverwalk, which is owned by two men living in Richland and West Richland, could not be reached Monday.

WSU Tri-Cities will reopen the bid process in order to find a developer for the project, university officials said.

“Moving forward, we are committed to finding the best possible fit for our campus and the Tri-Cities community,” said John Mancinelli, the university’s chief of staff and operations, in a news release.

Word of the partnership between the port and university on the student housing project surfaced in November 2014. University officials have said they want a student housing option close to campus to enhance student life, particularly as they seek to retain its growing enrollment that increasingly includes more traditional students. Nearly 1,600 students are enrolled at the campus this fall, a new record.

Discussions between the port and Riverwalk were to start in May after the port’s commissioners declared as surplus a 40-acre parcel, the last remaining open land belonging to the port along the Columbia River.

A report developed by Rick Simon, Richland’s development services manager, on the special use permit requested by the port in June indicates the project was planned to be 54,000 square feet, three stories high and capable of housing up to 160 students.

There were no issues with the project, though Simon recommended several conditions be met, including a detailed landscaping plan and adding more parking than was initially proposed, he said.

The port also would need to develop emergency notification procedures for all the project’s residents, given its proximity to Energy Northwest’s nuclear power generation facility and other facilities nearby with hazardous materials. Each resident would also need to be given written notice of those risks before moving in.

“It’s actually a standard requirement,” Simon said, adding that such warnings have been required of other residential projects in north Richland. “(The port, university and developer) were all pretty much in agreement with the results of the report.”

Dennison said the plan now is put the project out for proposals in November. There is no timeline for when it could be ready to welcome students.

This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 9:45 PM with the headline "WSU Tri-Cities, developer part ways on student housing proposal."