Work starting on 1,300 homes, apartments in massive Pasco development. Stores are next
READ MORE
Coming soon to the Tri-Cities
The latest news on new restaurants and businesses in the Tri-Cities
Expand All
After years of planning and infrastructure work, one of the biggest developments in the Tri-Cities is starting to materialize.
For commuters, it may seem like nothing has been going on at west Pasco’s Broadmoor development, but the behind the scenes work has been nonstop. And it’s starting to pay off.
Over the past two months, environmental impact study requests and preliminary plans have began pouring in for major projects along the perimeter.
Meanwhile the city has worked with developers to plan road extensions, recently completing a traffic study and development agreement.
Tim Ufkes, senior vice president of National Multi Housing Group with Marcus & Millichap, is the broker for the largest portion of land, Broadmoor properties, owned by Dale Adams. That area encompasses more than 600 acres on the east side of the development.
The first thing Tri-Citians are likely to see are housing projects on the south side of Burns Road, between Dent Road and Broadmoor Boulevard.
While that’s taking place, developers are working to court retailers and businesses for the commercial portions, with several letters of intent already signed.
One of the more highly anticipated tenants being wooed is Trader Joe’s.
Homes and apartments
Big Sky Developers is the first major developer to begin filing paperwork with the city and state, and will be taking on several projects. Already they have plans for two projects within the Broadmoor development, as well as several ongoing projects to the north.
Big Sky has submitted permits to begin grading work for The Dunes Subdivision, which will be 222 lots on the southeast side of the Burns-Dent intersection.
Included in the permit and environmental impact requests for The Dunes is a look at plans for a future subdivision to the west of it called Solstice, which would be about twice the size.
Big Sky also has recently submitted paperwork for subdivisions to the north of the development near the Columbia River.
Ufkes said a plat to the east of The Dunes has been earmarked for a senior living village.
It would include 297 lots with small 1,200- to 1,700-square-foot single-family homes. It would include a community center and clubhouse.
Harris Road will likely be split off where it begins to curve north, running between The Dunes and the planned village.
To the east of the village, a developer will be building two apartment complexes — Affinity and Hydro at Broadmoor. Affinity at Southridge was developed by the same company.
Affinity at Broadmoor will be similar to their Southridge property, consisting of a single 180,000-square-foot building with 170 units, geared toward seniors. Plans include a clubhouse, dog park, pickleball court and garden.
Hydro at Broadmoor will have eight, 32,000-square-foot buildings with 32 units each, for a total of 256 units. It includes a barbecue area, dog park, garden, “tot lot” playground and volleyball and sport courts.
The remaining two lots along the north end of the development on Burns Road will be mixed use.
Ufkes said the current plans are for retail on the first floor with up to five floors of residential units above. Two more similar mixed-use projects are planned along the Harris Road revision.
Stores and more
The roughly 100 acres south of the apartments and mixed-use buildings will be set aside for big box retail developments.
A planned Sandifur Parkway extension will feed into those retailers from the south with a large retail area on the other side.
Ufkes said they’re looking at about a half million square feet of retail space in that area, in addition to the big box stores. He said there has been interest in bringing in a 60,000-square-foot grocer, 100,000-square-foot retailer and several medical clinics.
They hope to create an outdoor mall type feel, where shoppers can park their cars and walk from store to store.
Ufkes said that a number of the retail parcels are currently under contract, but there has been no disclosure as to who the entities are.
He did say that previous discussion of a possible Costco was premature, and that the retailer has not signed a contract.
And while nothing is set in stone yet, Ufkes said there is a very good chance that a Trader Joe’s could find a home in the development.
“I know discussions are taking place between the large retail developer and Trader Joes,” Ufkes said. “I don’t know why Trader Joes wouldn’t come, they’ve already indicated they have an interest.”
Ufkes said the major factors that go into decisions to expand to new markets are typically infrastructure, growth and demographics.
He noted that the Tri-Cities is a particularly strong market for job growth and the income level is better than many markets where retailers have recently expanded.
Space at the future intersection of Sandifur and the Harris Road revision has been set aside for a Ben Franklin Transit hub, and to the south a plot of land could be the future home of a proposed Pasco aquatic facility.
The aquatic facility would be funded by a proposed $40 million, 25-year bond, that is set to be voted on in the April 26 elections.
It would be built in two phases — an outdoor leisure pool and an indoor leisure pool in the first phase. The second phase would see an indoor lap pool added.
Roads, speedbumps
The road extensions will be paid for through a Tax Increment Funding agreement between the developers and the city.
Those agreements allow cities to capture most of the property taxes collected within the designated area to fund major infrastructure work, helping to offset the cost for both the city and the developer. Bids for those projects are expected to go out later this year.
“The next year or two, what you’re going to see is all of the infrastructure — freeway interchange improvements to Broadmoor, improvements to Burns and Sandifur and Harris — those are all largely going to be completed by the end of 2023,” Ufkes said.
“At the same time, we should probably see a combination of up to a couple thousand single-family and multifamily units under some form of construction or the other, either completed or in development.”
Now that infrastructure work is done, and a plan to extend roadways is in place, the next major obstacle for developers is grading the land, getting it ready for construction. Because the area has not seen use, it is made up of the rolling hills which earned it the dunes nickname.
“This will be one of the more premiere developments in the Tri-Cities,” Ufkes said.
“This site’s never had anything on it before. It’s just sand dunes and sagebrush and it’s right in the center of the Tri-Cities, how did this parcel exist this long without having development?”
He said Adams is now in his 80s and wants to move quickly to see the project completed.
The 100-plus acres currently known as “The Pit” will be the last portion on the east side completed. Ufkes said grading work at other sites will help fill in the quarry.
It’s currently occupied by American Rock Products, which supplies ready-mix concrete for the Columbia Basin. Ufkes said the company has a plan to reclaim and rebuild the area once the other projects are completed.
“All of that is likely going to include a 30-acre pond or lake in the center, the cliffs will be terraced down to the lake and all be single family, as well as medium density around it,” Ufkes said. “The land to the southwest will likely be a combination of neighborhood commercial as well as hospitality. It will be turned into an amenity rather than a liability.”
Because much of the eastern portion of the development is from a single landowner, they were able to develop their own master plan of sorts.
Development on the west side, toward the Columbia River is ongoing, but no developers have filed plans or proposals.
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
