Richland wants to tear down this crime-ridden ‘blighted’ motel
A Richland motel that has been called a ‘blight’ on the city may soon be knocked down to make way for a future fire station.
The Richland City Council plans to vote on Tuesday, March 1, on a purchase agreement for the Economy Inn at 505 George Washington Way.
Fortify Holdings, which has began a series of conversions of old, under-performing hotels into micro-apartments across the Tri-Cities, considered buying the property to convert to tiny apartments but decided against it.
The hotel has long been an issue for the city, with criminal activity increasing over the years. Earnest Beasley Jr. was convicted of murder in December in connection with a May 2020 fatal stabbing at the hotel.
Richland will spend $1.2 million to acquire the closed hotel and its property. And then they are going to tear it down, City Manager Jon Amundson told the Herald. He said the council had discussed buying the property in closed-door executive sessions at its last two meetings.
The nearly 1 acre site sits at the corner of George Washington Way and Jadwin Boulevard. It was built in 1962 and was recently closed by owners for possible renovating or selling.
The city said that in addition to the increase in criminal activity, they also had fielded complaints about the building falling into disrepair.
The city set aside $1 million in its 2022 budget for land acquisition to relocate the aging Fire Station 71 at the intersection of George Washington Way and Swift Boulevard.
They’ll also be taking some money from a $600,000 fund set aside for a potential purchase of the land across the street, next to the Richland Player’s Theatre. A private developer decided to buy that property, instead.
“We are planning on knocking down the hotel, almost immediately over the next several months, and making some improvements so that it’s not just an empty lot,” Amundson said.
“We’re just really excited about the transformation of that corner, the site on the side of the street on Jadwin has sat vacant for many years. We see that as one of the entrances to the city.”
Amundson said improvements will include landscaping and beautification of the site. There is no word on what the developer plans to do with the Jadwin property, but it is expected to be a “mixed-use” project.
“Projects like these continue to improve Central Richland and implement the council’s vision for this area — a walkable community with diverse amenities, all near our beautiful waterfront,’ Richland Mayor Michael Alvarez said in a statement.
New fire stations
While the relocation of Fire Station 71 is the most likely use at the old motel site, Amundson said it is still several years out.
The city plans to build the new Badger Mountain Fire Station first, so work on the relocation of the aging Station 71 may be 5 to 7 years away. Amundson said that’s why the city is prioritizing beautification of the property in the interim.
Work on the Badger Mountain Fire Station is expected to begin early in 2023 and take about a year to complete. The city has set aside about $10.5 million toward that project in the 2022 budget.
Amundson said that when considering the Economy Inn property for a fire station, Richland’s fire department ran scenarios to determine how a relocation farther south on George Washington Way would impact their response times, and they found it was actually better suited for units than the current station near City Hall.
Once that relocation is complete, the city hopes to sell the old fire station to a developer. While rumors had been floating that the station would be knocked down to extend Swift to the Columbia River, Amundson said that is unlikely.
“That’s just a rumor, what we hope will happen is it will spur economic development on that site, to create a downtown feel,” he said.
Amundson said the central location and proximity to the river would make that site a prime spot for development.
Two years ago, the city tore down it’s longtime city hall on George Washington Way and Swift and have been trying to similarly market that property.
The March 1 city council meeting is open to the public in person and online. Residents will have the opportunity to speak on the issue during the public comment portion of the meeting.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 12:47 PM.
