Hermiston’s downtown area continues to see improvements with construction to begin soon on a project to host gatherings and events.

More than 100 parking spaces also were added and the total value of the Hermiston Urban Renewal Agency or HURA, topped 20 percent since it was created four years ago to revitalize the city’s downtown.

Hermiston is about 32 miles south of Kennewick in Oregon.

“If the main goals of an Urban Renewal Agency are to increase the taxable value and eliminate barriers to new private investment, then I think we can safely say we’re hitting it out of the park so far,” said Mark Morgan, assistant city manager, in a statement.

The current value of all properties within the district stands at $50.5 million, up from $42.2 million at the creation of the district in 2014.

The bulk of the new value comes from the development of a 93-room Holiday Inn Express, which opened in the downtown core. The development received a $36,400 façade grant from HURA, and the city of Hermiston awarded $50,000 to move a city sewer line from the property.

“The HURA’s revenues are up almost $100,000 in the first year that the hotel has hit the tax rolls, which would be about a one-year return on our public investments,” Morgan said. “I wish all of our investments paid back so quickly.”

Another HURA project which helped attract the new hotel was the creation of a downtown Festival Street area, which can hold events and activities for hotel patrons and the community.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2018.

Private developments aren’t the only investments attracted to the downtown core.

The Hermiston City Council’s decision to move the new Harkenrider Center, home of the senior center, on vacant land in the downtown injected about $2.7 million of investment in the center of town.

Although the facility won’t directly contribute to the area’s valuation, the community center is expected to increase visits to the area and add another element of vibrancy to the area, city officials said.

“This is all about contributing to a critical mass,” Morgan said.  “The more people we can get to come downtown on a daily basis, the more viable it makes the area for investment by private businesses which depend on passing traffic.”

Increased traffic often means a need for more places to park, which is why the city and HURA worked to increase parking and reduce barriers to future development on the west side of downtown.

Through a deal approved by the city council and HURA in September, a private developer agreed to build a new 50-space paved parking lot and public event shade structure on Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way between Locust and Orchard avenues.

The new parking lot, which has been completed and is now open to the public, will make it easier for other nearby properties to develop in the future as new developments within 500 feet will be able to count spaces in the parking lot toward their required additional parking on a first-come, first-served basis, the city said.

The council also approved a resolution in November to establish a similar incentive program for two existing under-used city-owned parking lots near Orchard Avenue and Southwest Third Street. Those 60 spaces also can be counted toward a new business’ minimum off-street parking requirement.

“Adding these new spaces, and re-classifying the others won’t just make it easier to develop a bare lot on the west side of downtown,” Morgan said. “These spaces will make it much easier for buildings in that commercial zone to make the conversion from residential to commercial.”