March 2023 Volume 22 | Issue 3
Food & Beverage
Market aims to restore dignity with free food distribution Page A23
Photo by Jamie Council Park Place leased its last available retail space, making good on its plan to create a mixed-use urban community at 650 George Washington Way in Richland.
Park Place fulfills vision of creating mixed-use development lion development made up of retail suites and apartments in 2019 at 650 George Washington Way, providing easy access to the heart of Richland and its waterfront amenities. Tulipe, a clothing and lifestyle shop, leased the last available retail unit in the development. The new store celebrates a grand opening March 17-18 at 614 George Washington Way. Retail spaces are also filled along Park Place’s lower level, which faces Howard Amon Park. “We’re 100% full retail now,” said Ana Villa, Park Place’s property manager. “Most of them just opened their doors. I know they
are excited about the location and about seeing what’s to come.”
Setbacks don’t deter big plans for Pasco’s Osprey Pointe Marketplace
11 buyers bid more than $5M on Wye properties
By Jamie Council
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
Business Profile
Parkway gift shop fueled by sarcasm and sass Page A35
Real Estate & Construction
A Tri-City favorite expands into Spokane market Page B5
NOTEWORTHY “Numbers and reports will always provide a measure, but in a service industry, the culture of the workplace is critical for continued success. We must rely on our people.”
Page A16
By Laura Kostad
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
Four years ago, plans to develop Osprey Pointe Marketplace were announced. When Eaty Gourmet couldn’t deliver, JMS Construction stepped up with a goal of breaking ground in 2020. Then Covid-19 upended the project. Once the dust had largely settled, the opening was revised to summer 2022. Then the 2021 Washington State Energy Strategy mandated that new and existing buildings transition to high-efficiency electric space and water heating. Then there was proposed legislation to ban natural gas altogether as a heat source in new
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-Letisha Peterson, general manager, Legends Casino
Leasing Park Place’s remaining retail storefront marks the completion of a longtime vision to create a vibrant mixed-use urban community between George Washington Way and Howard Amon Park in Richland. It’s the first urban community in the area, said Jen Soto, regional property manager for Spokane-based Prodigy Property Management. “We don’t have anything like this in the Tri-Cities,” she said. “There’s not a lot of open land here in the Tri-Cities to develop it.” Developers broke ground on the $20 mil-
commercial construction and residential projects four stories and taller. The series of setbacks posed major problems for James and Meredith Sexton, owners of JMS Construction, who have been in the process of master planning and engineering the Port of Pasco’s 55-acre parcel at Osprey Pointe.
Slow-going process The homebuilders’ vision includes more than just a housing development. And they’re not giving up. They want to convert the vacant waterfront property into a mixed-use development with commercial space. Plans call for 1,063 homes consisting of apartments, condominiums and detached condos, a 350-room hotel and the centerpiece: a 9,400-square-foot indoor marketplace, event facility and an outdoor amphitheater bigger than the Gorge in Quincy. The snag? The Sextons had planned to heat the marketplace with four gas furnaces. The proposed bill ended up dying, but in an unexpected move, the Washington State Building Code Council passed a similar ban in spring 2022. It goes into effect this July. Changes to the state building code were made in the interest of reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. uOSPREY POINTE, Page A9
Vision for busy corridor Fronting busy George Washington Way, Park Place sees more than 33,000 vehicles drive by the location every day. In addition to the retail space, the development rents studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, with many residents still working from home, offering the nearby shops a built-in customer base, Villa and Soto said. The city of Richland always had a vision for this highly visible area. “Overall our strategy is a vibrant, walkuPARK PLACE, Page A4
By Sara Schilling sara@tcjournal.biz
The potential transformation of the Richland Wye is a step closer to reality after a pair of land auctions yielded 11 buyers who bid more than $5 million for property left behind by the late Jerry Sleater. Another auction for two remaining parcels in Sleater’s Wye portfolio is expected to happen in the next couple of months. “We had really good participation (the first two days),” said auctioneer Scott Musser, chief executive officer of Musser Bros., who’s working with Derrick Stricker of Stricker CRE on the Wye auction. “Buyers are seeing the vision,” Musser said. “For me as a longtime resident, I’ve seen a lot of changes and transformations. I think we’re about to see an abrupt transition in the Richland Wye that’s unprecedented in the Tri-Cities.” During the first two days of auction in early March, 16 parcels sold to 11 buyers for more than $5 million total. The names of the buyers aren’t public until the sales close, Musser said. uWYE AUCTION, Page A3
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