Articles by Wendy Culverwell
Vancouver developer raises its local profile with $50M project at Hansen Park
A Vancouver developer with a history of building apartments in the Tri-Cities is raising its profile with an ambitious project in the Columbia Center Boulevard corridor. Carmen Villarma and her husband, Dennis Pavlina, have begun work on The Resort at Hansen Park, a $50 million mixed-use development that will offer three different types of rental…
PBS puts spotlight on Richland’s global miracle worker
A Richland nonprofit that works medical magic in the world’s most remote, undeveloped and dangerous corners is enjoying a moment in the spotlight, courtesy public television. SIGN Fracture Care International, helmed by founder Dr. Lewis Zirkle and CEO Jeanne Dillner, is featured in “Trauma Healers,” a documentary that explores the need for trauma care in…
Longtime leader steers Chaplaincy through transition to new executive director
A well-known Tri-City business leader is at the helm of Chaplaincy Health Care while the hospice agency seeks a leader to succeed Gary Castillo. Bob Rosselli, who retired from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2002 and from the Columbia Basin College Foundation Board in 2014, stepped in as interim executive director after Castillo resigned…
Broetje Family Trust brings a green touch to its east Pasco quarters
The Broetje Family Trust is turning to solar power and water recycling to help fulfill its stewardship mission as it builds a new home for its three nonprofits in east Pasco. The $4.2 million, 30,000-square-foot building will house the trust’s three nonprofits, including a leadership academy with room for up to 60 students when it…
RV demand surges and Covid is only part of the reason
In the topsy-turvy pandemic economy, RV demand is at a record high, with manufacturers set to ship upwards of 543,000 units in 2021, easily besting the previous record of 504,600 units shipped to dealers in 2017. For dealers and customers alike, record demand means waiting lists for the most popular models. “The pandemic is part…
Iconic Brewery to bring beer, wine to Horn Rapids
The Tri-Cities’ fledgling craft brewery community is about to gain a new member. Iconic Brewery will open in late June at Horn Rapids, bringing craft brew, wine and a family-friendly outdoor gathering spot to Richland’s Horn Rapids Industrial Park. Iconic Brewery is the brainchild of Debbie and Matt Driscoll, veteran dairy farmers and vineyard owners,…
Construction starts in June on luxe project in downtown Kennewick
The Nineteen, a luxury office-and-apartment project planned for downtown Kennewick, will break ground in June. The project, first announced in 2019, was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic as the developers pursued construction loans. Andrew Klein and Brian Griffith, who formed Klein Griffith Properties Group LLC to pursue the project, secured the final piece of the…
Firehouse Subs brand expands to the west
Sun Pacific Energy, which operates a string of Firehouse Subs-anchored Sun Market convenience stores and gas stations in the Mid-Columbia and western Washington, breaks ground this spring in West Richland. Not all Sun Markets feature the Firehouse brand, but the new one at 6255 Keene Road at Belmont Boulevard, across from the new West Richland…
Retired UPS exec opens small gym at Richland Wye
Kathy Peoples has opened Peoples Fitness Journey at the Richland Wye, fulfilling a dream of opening a health-related business when she retired. Peoples Fitness opened in a 2,500-square-foot space at 1221 Columbia Park Trail, near Fowler Street, in a spot formerly occupied by a rental business. Peoples graduated from Pasco High School but spent most…
DOE taps Houston team to design, build PNNL ‘Launchpad’
A pair of Houston-based partners will design and build the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s $75 million Grid Storage Launchpad. Harvey|Harvey-Cleary and Kirksey Architecture were selected to design and construct the project by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity, which announced the ambitious clean energy development center on March 10. The Launchpad project promises to help…
