Former crime-plagued motel site for sale. Can it help revive Pasco downtown?
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- Pasco is offering the former Thunderbird Motel site for sale to revive downtown.
- The city bought the 1965 motel in 2022 for $1.2 million and demolished it.
- City will prioritize food, retail, and entertainment uses and exclude payday lenders.
As part of its effort to breathe new life into downtown Pasco, the city is putting three city-owned properties up for sale, including a site long known as a hotspot for prostitution, drug overdoses and other criminal activity.
The city bought the former Thunderbird Motel for $1.2 million four years ago to rid the area of the trouble spot.
Now, it’s hoping to find someone interested in putting a restaurant, café, bakery or other similar food-related business there.
Locally-owned retail shops and entertainment venues are also being encouraged as part of the city’s concerted effort to solicit proposals from developers and businesses to “bring vibrant, people-centered commercial or mixed-use development.”
The 0.64-acre development site is near the Pasco Farmers Market and next to Café con Arte, between Columbia Street and Third Avenue.
Pasco reached an agreement in 2022 with Song Hwang, the owner at the time, to buy the crime-ridden motel built in 1965.
In 2022 alone, 911 operators handled more than 300 calls regarding disturbances, suspicious circumstances, trespassing, drugs, and weapons in that area.
Pasco demolished it and made it a parking lot for use by the farmers market.
City officials have not said what they hope to get for that lot and for the two buildings it is shopping around. And they haven’t said if they intend to use the money for a specific project.
However, earlier this week, the Herald reported that Pasco is offering to buy the large soccer and softball complex near Gesa Stadium from Franklin County for $13 million, in addition to selling Volunteer Park to the county.
City Manager Harold Stewart said that money could come from the city’s economic development fund.
2 other Pasco-owned properties for sale
The city also is looking to sell a 15,300-square-foot building next to the Pasco Specialty Kitchen and directly across from the Pasco Farmers Market.
The 1944 building sits at 122 and 124 S. 4th Avenue.
It was previously occupied by United Western Technologies, better known as UniWest, a manufacturer of non-destructive testing equipment and sensors, said the city.
When the city bought it in 2024, its taxable value was $704,900.
Pasco also is looking to sell is an office building at 321 W. Lewis St. Part of the space is currently subleased to a public agency that provides community programs.
The nearly 3,500-square-foot building previously housed the city’s Graffiti Abatement Team and served as a base for the Pasco School District’s AmeriCorps program. It includes 900-square-foot basement that can be used for storage.
In 2025 when the city bought it, the taxable value was about $269,000, according county assessor records.
City officials say any future developments on these sites must also help make downtown a safer and pedestrian-friendly area.
They’re specifically discouraging check-cashing businesses, payday lenders, auto-oriented uses, storage facilities and warehouse-type operations.
But the documents said they’d consider proposals such as salons, fitness and wellness centers or office spaces that attract customers to the area.
Deadline for proposals is July 17.
