Fire left Prosser City Hall homeless. The nearby courthouse was mostly empty — until now
.JPG "Benton County Courthouse in Prosser, WA.")
Prosser had a fire in 2021 that burned its city hall and police station.
Benton County had a picturesque courthouse that’s mostly vacant — 15 or fewer workers occupy the historic three-story building in the heart of Prosser.
In a match born out of real estate necessity, the city of Prosser will turn the first floor of the courthouse into its new city hall this summer.
The two sides made it official Thursday, signing a lease documents in a sunny ceremony on the steps of the nearly 100-year-old courthouse at 620 Market St.
Prosser Mayor Gary Vegar, Prosser Clerk Rachel Shaw and Benton County Commissioner Michael Alvarez signed the deal amid speeches about saving tax dollars and cheers from city residents and workers.
“This is a great day to be a Mustang,” Vegar said, referring to the high school’s mascot.
Contract terms
The 10-year deal includes one five-year extension.
Prosser will rent its space for the bargain price of $4 a square foot, plus $1.50 to cover the cost of maintenance and custodial service.
That’s one-third or less of the typical asking rent for Kennewick office space, according to Loopnet.com, a real estate listing service. Loopnet had no Prosser listings so direct comparisons aren’t available.
Prosser will pay a third of the utility bills and will explore sharing IT costs with the county.
The county will sell Prosser a vacant brick building beside the courthouse. The city will use the site if not the building itself for a police station.
Both sides call the deal a win for their respective taxpayers.
Benton County gets a partner to share in the cost of maintaining and operating a building that turns 100 in July 2026, Alvarez said.
Benton County seat
Prosser is the official Benton County seat. That means most elected officials have to keep offices — and limited — staffs there. Officials estimate 11 to 15 people work there.
Most county offices are based at the justice and administration complex in Kennewick, the defacto county seat even if it isn’t the legal one.
Prosser benefits from access to a government building that’s been maintained, updated and expanded in the century since it first opened in 1926. Prosser will move over this summer, after it finalizes final agreements and carries out updates to its new space.
“We packed our boxes,” Vegar joked.
Prosser has been hunting for a new home since May 2021.
A fire that broke out in a downtown meat shop damaged both city hall and the police station, leaving municipal government functionally homeless.
Voters rejected bonds
The city hoped to leverage insurance proceeds and voter-approved bonds to build a $16.8 million municipal complex. Its voters turned down the request in November 2022. The city leased temporary quarters from the Port of Benton.
The courthouse plan was set in motion in the November 2023 general election.
Gary Vegar, a Prosser businessman, defeated former Mayor Randy Taylor after campaigning on a pledge to explore locating the city inside the courthouse.
Talks began shortly after he took office in 2024.
The move makes logistical and financial sense and will save tax dollars for “years to come,” Vegar said.
The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, before several major renovations that expanded and updated the structure. The original is a brick and terracotta building designed by a Spokane architect in a style described as neo-classical revival.
“(T)he courthouse embodies permanence, stability, and architectural monumentality,” the nomination said.