Once-toxic Richland corner finally getting a new business after being vacant for years
The corner lot at a prominent Richland intersection is one step closer to getting a long-promised redevelopment.
Wake Up Call Coffee applied this month for a building permit to build a small drive-through coffee shop at 590 W. Gage Blvd.
The high-profile spot once sported a gas station and then became an eyesore after it closed, touching off a years-long effort to clean up and reuse the property.
The city of Richland approved a special use request by Wake Up in 2024, following an environmental review process.
Spokane-based Wake Up Call wants to install a 500-square-foot coffee stand on the 0.36-acre property. It is expected to draw about 176 vehicles a day and will be accessed from driveways set as far from the intersection as feasible.
The project is valued at $500,000 and will be built by Hummel Construction and Design.
Wake Up Call’s project at the corner of Gage Boulevard and Leslie Road follows years of turmoil at that site and several ownership changes.
A gas station and convenience store operated there, first as Exxon and later Circle K, before going dark, leaving behind an environmental challenge.
Four underground fuel takes were removed in March and April 2019. Gasoline, benzene and related contaminants were detected in the soil and ground water, according to Washington Department of Ecology records.
The Pollution Liability Insurance agency determined no further action was required in December 2021 and the site was entered into a voluntary cleanup program for arsenic and lead contamination. Six groundwater monitoring wells were sealed in August 2023.
The convenience store was demolished and weeds were trimmed back.
DOE signed off on the cleanup in early 2023. Early last year, the city paid $50,000 for slices of the site bordering Gage and Leslie for future sidewalk projects.
Christopher Arkoosh, president and owner of Wake Up Coffee, bought the parcel for $660,000 in September, property records show. The deal brought the site’s story full circle.
In 2019, Roasters Coffee, a forerunner to Wake Up Call, expressed interest in building there.
Nothing came of the plan, but Roasters was sold to Black Rock Coffee Bar but the deal didn’t stick. Wake Up Call took over after prevailing in a legal tussle.
The south Richland Wake Up Call will be the chain’s 6th Richland location and 14th overall in Tri-Cities.