Potato grower to build $3.7 million office building in Pasco

One of the larger agricultural growers in the Mid-Columbia has received permits to build a new 18,500-square-foot office building in west Pasco.

Oregon Potato Company plans a two-story structure valued at more than $3.7 million at 6727 Chapel Hill Blvd., according to a building permit filed with the city. It will include offices, conference rooms, a break room and other support spaces.

Bouten Construction Company is listed as the contractor with MMEC Architecture & Interiors as the architect/engineer.

Oregon Potato Company currently has its headquarters on Court Street in Pasco. With roots dating back to 1985, the company has 140,000 acres of crop land spread across Oregon, Washington and Idaho, as well as more than a dozen processing facilities.

Residential property developer buys Pasco industrial land

A company known for buying and selling residential properties recently spent $5.3 million for acreage in Pasco’s industrial area.

TWG Pasco LLC acquired 22 acres from Frank Tiegs LLC on Commercial Avenue. Part of the purchase includes the undeveloped land between Basin Disposal and EleMar Oregon.

TWG Pasco did not respond to requests for comment from the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business regarding its plans for the property.

Panera grows Tri-Cities footprint with new Kennewick location

Fans of Panera Bread’s soups, sandwiches and salads now have another location in the Tri-Cities to get their fix.

The national bakery-cafe chain opened its second location at 6821 W. Canal Drive in Kennewick on July 31. And to celebrate, the first 100 guests received a year’s worth of You Pick Two meals, a meal combo of two half size entrees from the restaurant’s menu.

Additionally, through Oct. 31, local nonprofits, including schools, sports teams, scout groups and more can host a fundraising event at the new Panera and the restaurant will donate 30% of the net sales from the event back to the organization.

“We are excited to grow our presence in this wonderful community and look forward to delivering the great tasting food and impeccable service our local guests have come to expect from Panera,” said Samantha Lewis, the store’s operator, in a statement.

The store will employ between 55 to 60 people.  

Hours will be 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Go to: panerabread.com.

Richland moves ahead on one-way couplet project

The city of Richland is moving ahead with its vision to turn George Washington Way and Jadwin Avenue into a one-way couplet via acquiring necessary rights of way and launching a website to keep the community informed about the project.

The federal environmental review of the project was approved last month, which will allow city officials to begin approaching property owners about acquiring temporary or permanent easements or land acquisitions.

All that information and more about the project is available at a new dedicated website from the city, thedowntownloop.com.

“This project will bring lasting improvements to safety, mobility and economic development in our downtown area,” said Richland City Manager Jon Amundson in a statement. “We’re committed to transparency and easy access to information throughout the construction process. This website is one of the key ways we’re delivering on that promise.”

The $23.5 million project has taken years of planning, study and community engagement. Once completed, George Washington Way will carry northbound traffic while Jadwin Avenue carries southbound traffic. The project is aimed at improving traffic flow and economic development in the city’s core while also making safety and walkability improvements.

Actual construction is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2026.

Marina deconstruction closes part of park, multiuse trail

Workers have begun dismantling the Columbia Park Marina ahead of the removal of the causeway connecting Bateman Island to the Richland shoreline.

The city has closed the western section of the parking lot at Columbia Park West and a portion of the multiuse trail heading toward Wye Park as part of the deconstruction, according to a release. The removal of the marina is anticipated to take two months.

Efforts to remove the causeway have been ongoing for years and were solidified last fall by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The causeway blocks the flow of the Yakima River into the Columbia River on the north side of the island, creating water quality and temperature issues for migrating salmon.

Water currents are expected to be too strong for the marina, which sits just downstream of the island, once the causeway is removed. The marina’s owners closed it this spring.

New hotel planned for Columbia Center Boulevard

An $11 million hotel is planned on Columbia Center Boulevard in Kennewick.

The city of Kennewick recently issued a building permit to Gurbir Sandhu with Ignite Hotels for a four-story Holiday Inn Express at 7715 W. Quinault Ave., just northwest of the Red Lion Hotel.

The hotel will have 96 rooms, a meeting room, business center, pool, fitness center and lounge, according to the permit.

State environmental documents filed for the hotel in January under a different address, 1123 N. Columbia Center Blvd., indicated the hotel would be 56,000 square feet and include 110 parking spaces, with a small portion of the parking lot to be built on the Red Lion Hotel property.

Report: Urban Growth Area limits negatively impact housing availability 

An advocate for homebuilders in Washington state says artificial limits on where development can occur contribute to housing costs and constraining the market. 

The Building Industry Association of Washington’s (BIAW) “How Land Limits Contribute to Washington’s Housing Crisis” says that the state’s strict limits on urban growth areas (UGAs) means there’s sparse land available for homes in urban areas, driving up home prices in those markets and pushing homebuilding further out, which worsens commutes and vehicle emissions. 

UGAs are part of the state’s Growth Management Act, first enacted by lawmakers about 30 years ago. Under the law, UGAs are areas where “urban growth shall be encouraged and outside of which growth can occur only if it is not urban in nature.” 

“This important study shows that only 3.74% of Washington’s land lies inside designated urban growth areas,” said BIAW’s Executive Vice President Greg Lane in a statement. “In other words, for three decades now, Washington land-use policy has dictated that growth must fit into these tiny areas of our state.”

BIAW is urging lawmakers to loosen limits on expanding urban growth areas, create new zoning to moderate density and mitigate local government reductions to buildable land.

Construction starts to sputter, according to latest employment data

The stagnation and declines that have affected the nation’s construction industry since January may be starting to rear their head in the Tri-Cities. 

According to the latest analysis of construction workforce data by the Association of General Contractors of America (AGC), the Tri-Cities had 11,600 construction jobs in June, 100 fewer than a year prior.  

That’s a much smaller decline than many other parts of the state but AGC officials said the ongoing issues regarding tariff and trade uncertainty, paired with high interest rates, are putting builders in a holding pattern or leading them to cancel projects entirely. 

Only 180 of the 360 metro areas for which the government discloses construction employment data added construction jobs in the latest 12 months as of June, AGC officials said. That’s 35 fewer metros than a year ago.  

Construction spending totaled $2.14 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in June. That’s 0.4% below the May rate and 2.9% lower than the June 2024 level. 

Until recently, the Tri-Cities had seen its construction labor pool grow year over year. The recent decline may result from projects being completed and new ones not being started. 

State announces $212 million for affordable rental housing

Developers interested in providing more affordable housing have the opportunity to seek state funding to get those projects off the ground.

The state Department of Commerce has opened applications for up to $212 million for multifamily housing projects, according to a release.

The funding is part of the Legislature’s $419 million, two-year investment in affordable housing, which passed during the 2025 legislative session.

The funds will come from a slew of sources, including Washington State Housing Trust Fund, Apple Health and Homes, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities program, and the federal HOME and National Housing Trust Fund programs. Applications will be accepted until Oct. 16.

State officials say more than 1 million homes are needed over the next 20 years to meet housing demand in the state and at least half need to be affordable to those making less than 50% of the median family income.

The funding is available via two application processes: HTF Multifamily Housing and HOME and NHTF. Go to: bit.ly/multi-rentals.

These won’t be the last opportunities for developers to get a financial boost for building affordable housing. Another $200 million set aside by the Legislature has yet to be made available.

Spirit Halloween stores prepare to open ahead of spooky season

All right, ghosts and ghouls, the time is nearly here for you to get this year’s hot Halloween costumes, latest decorations and everything else you need as the Tri-Cities’ three Spirit Halloween locations open in the coming days. 

The itinerant Halloween retailer known for haunting former retail stores will again have Kennewick locations in the former Toys R Us at 821 N. Columbia Center Blvd. and the former Tuesday Morning at 7411 W. Canal Drive.  

The third store will be at the former Office Depot at 1717 George Washington Way in Richland for the first time this season.

Last year Spirit Halloween had a location at a former Albertsons grocery store at the corner of Lee Boulevard and Stevens Drive. 

The company has not officially given opening dates for the Tri-City stores.  

Nationally, Spirit Halloween began opening its stores Aug. 7 and most are expected to open by mid-August, employing 50,000 people to operate them.  

Go to: spirithalloween.com.