Exclusive | 4 Tri-Cities waterfront lots up for sale after having same owner for 100 years

A strip of waterfront land with a pristine view and private access to the Columbia River is ready for a dream home.

The public has a rare chance to own prime undeveloped shoreline property in the Tri-Cities — at a time when single empty lots have all but disappeared within city limits anywhere in the Tri-Cities.

The Franklin Irrigation District is selling a parcel it owns along Court Street and Road 111 at auction through Musser Bros. Real Estate and Auctions in Pasco.

For about 100 years the irrigation district has owned the two acres where a single modest house sits next to a district pump, said Bill Davis, an attorney at Leavy, Schultz, Davis who has represented the district since the ‘70s.

The house that was built in the 1930s long served as the home to the district’s watermaster during the days that someone needed to physically monitor the pump. It now sits empty and the accompanying office is long abandoned.

The stretch of undeveloped land on Court Street sits amid many lavish homes on prime real estate with private shoreline access and private docks.

Undeveloped land — particularly single lots — within the Pasco, Kennewick and Richland city limits is becoming a dwindling commodity in high demand. The value prompted the district to sell now.

Scarce single lots

Ron Almberg a real estate agent with Keller Williams told the Herald that single lots are nearly non-existent any more in Tri-Cities. Because of the cost, mostly big project developers and builders have the equity to grab large number of lots at a time.

“Everything is being snatched up,” Almberg said.

The irrigation district’s property was divided into six lots, with four of them for sale individually and rezoned residential for single homes.

Neighboring, similar-sized lots are assessed at close to $400,00 each just for the land for a third of an acre.

Public records show homes along the waterfront have longtime homeowners with assessed values of $500,000 to $750,000 — and would likely to sell for far more if put on the market today.

The district couldn’t speculate on how much the lots will go for, but the auction that began in June has brought bids of about $855,000 as of July 15. The auction ends Tuesday, July 20.

One bidder has a combined offer of $425,000 for two lots and another has the high bid of $430,000 for the other two.

Musser Auctions couldn’t be reached for more details, but the sales will close likely in September. It’s unclear when the buyers will be made public.

Aging pump station

One lot that’s not being sold is the old pump station.

“The upcoming project will pay for the pump station upgrades,” said Franklin Irrigation District office manager Gennie Gurrie. “It is a good opportunity for us to be able to pay for it.”

The pump has a 1928 date stamp and the district must do expensive maintenance and upgrades to continue to efficiently provide clean water for the increasing population, said Davis in an earlier public statement.

Some people in the community are unhappy about the sale though — downright outraged — even.

“With ravenous growth as Pasco spreads northward along the river, very little thought has been given to public access both visually or physically,” said Cynthia Muse, who is a lifelong Pasco resident and from a farming family.

Muse and her husband have property along the shoreline in north Pasco, and she told the Herald that her father has lived a few houses down from the district’s property for more than 40 years.

“I live on the river — that is why it is important to allow access points for all before it is too late,” Muse said.

She has been working behind the scenes for months to save the land and keep it open for the public to enjoy and see the views as they use nearby recreational trails.

She has attempted to reach out to other groups and entities to try to find other funding to keep the property undeveloped, but without success.

However, Davis insisted that the property never was meant for public use.

Technology now allows remote monitoring of the pump and no one needs to be physically on site.

The land is considered surplus, and he said that district board decided the most responsible use of the property was to sell it and put the money toward improvement projects.

“The district is not equipped nor staffed to maintain a park or facilities for public use,” said a statement from the irrigation district.

Davis told the Herald that the unoccupied land also is a liability and the exposure to risks can’t continue.

“(The property) presents dangers due to its topography — the lots are steep, and in the past children have done sledding on the hill,” he said.

This story was originally published July 18, 2021 at 8:00 AM.