Articles by Wendy Culverwell
Market Overview: 2021: The year the Tri-Cities hit 300,000 – and its stride
History will remember the early 2020s for the devastating coronavirus pandemic, the shutdowns, the economic chaos. It would be easy to assign the booming construction scene of 2021 to a Covid-19 recovery. The bounce back may be real, but population and job growth are the real drivers of the diverse array of construction occurring in…
Residential Growth: Tight home supply drives up prices
Homebuilders face familiar headwinds in 2021 – finding enough places to build new homes, hiring enough workers to build them and sourcing enough building materials to build with. Add in Washington’s new energy code, which took effect this year, and it’s a challenging time to be a residential developer. But the local and regional builders…
Commercial Real Estate: Private investment dominates commercial picture, for now
Private investors are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into Tri-City commercial construction in a shift from recent years, when school construction and public projects, such as Richland’s Duportail Street bridge and fire stations, dominated the sector. Fueled by low interest rates and a backlog of projects booked in the busy pre-pandemic days, privately funded…
Amazon confirms massive distribution plans for Pasco
Amazon Inc. confirmed Sept. 16 that it will open two distribution centers, each more than 1 million square feet, on South Road 40 East, north of Sacajawea State Park in Pasco. The Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business first reported the news of the massive projects in its August edition. At the time, Seattle-based Amazon did…
City of Pasco: $150M in city projects on deck for next year
Pasco will begin construction on a new home for the Tri-Cities Animal Control building by spring 2022. So says David Zabell, Pasco city manager. The animal control facility is by no means the largest or most complicated undertaking on the city’s $150 million capital projects list for the coming year. Water and wastewater plants hold…
WSU Tri-Cities inks $25K lease for Walter Clore Center
WSU Tri-Cities is setting up camp in Prosser. The school has agreed to lease the closed Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Center from the Port of Benton for $25,000 a year. It will use it for wine and culinary education. The port originally built the 15,000-square-foot facility in 2014 to showcase the state’s wine…
Chaplaincy delays hospice project over rising costs
Chaplaincy Health Care is delaying construction of a 10-bed hospice house at the Richland Wye after construction estimates rose 30% past the $5 million price tag. The nonprofit intended to begin construction on a replacement for Chaplaincy Hospice House this fall at 1336 Spaulding Ave., near its Fowler Street administrative office. Instead, it will make…
Farmers Exchange changes owners as fourth – and fifth – generations step in
Farmers Exchange, the iconic purveyor of lawnmowers, chainsaws, trimmers, animal feed and garden supplies, has passed to a new generation. Christopher Ingersoll, great grandson of one of the original owners of the Kennewick business, bought it from his uncle, Keith Silliman, in a deal that closed Oct. 1. Silliman said he was thrilled to pass…
Gravis Law expands into rural powerhouse
Gravis Law PLLC, a Richland-based firm with 48 attorneys in multiple offices, is positioning itself as a national brand bringing legal services to underserved rural communities. In January, it completed a transaction to bring the legal team from a Kennewick firm, Hames, Anderson, Whitlow and O’Leary, into the business. The move gives Gravis an office…
Fuse Fund restarts capital drive as pandemic inspires entrepreneurs
Fuse Fund is restarting its push to raise $2 million to invest in promising local companies after early pandemic shutdowns forced a slowdown. The fund is operated by Fuse Advisors, a subsidiary of Richland’s Fuse SPC. Fuse SPC, housed at Richland’s Parkway, is a special purpose company dedicated to providing space, mentors and education to…
