Richland Mayor Theresa Richardson has dreamed of high rises along the riverfront since she was elected to the Richland City Council in 2021.
“Jon – Should we have the opportunity, I would be in favor of developing a skyline of unique high rise properties along the river front,” Councilmember Theresa Richardson wrote City Manager Jon Amundson in May 2022, just months after she was elected. The Observer obtained the email through a Washington Public Records Act.
Tuesday night her wish could come true when the city council chooses between two high-rise proposals which will raise the allowed building heights from 35 to 55 feet in the waterfront zone to 85 feet. The National Fire Protection Association considers a building higher than 75 feet, a high-rise.
Richland City Council meets at 6 pm at Richland City Hall. To stream the meeting go to Richland City View or watch it live on Cable Channel 192. The agenda and packet of information about it or available online.
The first proposal, submitted by the city staff, would leave the current parking requirements in place. That could mean some of the most valuable property in the city becomes a sea of parking spaces.
An alternative, proposed by the Richland Planning Commission, chaired by Richardson’s son, Jet Richardson, provides that any building above 55 feet provide a maximum of 60% on-site parking with at least 30% of the overall required parking in a designated below or above grade parking garage.
Newly elected Councilmember Kurt Maier’s wife, Francesca, is also a member of the Planning Commission.
Sales of city-owned property on the Tuesday agenda use the standard buy-back provisions that Mayor Richardson’s husband negotiated out of the purchase contract in the city land sale to their church.
The two contracts for sale of property in the Horn Rapids industrial area to be approved Tuesday night have the standard buy-back provisions for the sale of city property. The repurchase provisions are included in the contracts to discourage speculation and property flipping by buyers.
The new contracts demonstrate once again the favorable terms Richardson’s husband, David, received from the city when he negotiated for the sale of city property at 350 Thayer to their church – New Heights Church.
To avoid triggering the buy-back provisions in the contracts presented Tuesday night, the buyers of 2589 Robertson Drive and 2573 Robertson Drive are required to
- submit applications for approval of building plans to the city within 8 months.
- commission construction within 18 months.
- have city approval to sell to a third party for 36 months.
- be subject to the city’s right to repurchase for 36 months.
David Richardson negotiated a contract with the city of Richland in the summer of 2022 for the purchase of surplus property at 350 Thayer next to the New Heights Church that included the following requirements:
- submit applications for approval of the parking lot within 8 months. (The church submitted at the October 2023 deadline after closing in February 2023.)
- complete the parking lot in 24 months.
- have city approval to sell to a third party for 24 months.
- be subject to repurchase by the city for 24 months.
Having the deadline for completion of the parking lot coincide with the expiration of the city’s right to repurchase makes buy-back by the city difficult, and the church can sell the property in February 2025, two years after the purchase.
The church sold a similar piece of property to Tim Bush in 2021. One of Richardson’s first votes as a councilmember was to approve a zoning change from single family to multi-family for that property.
Fortified Holdings representatives told the city that they now have the financing to buy surplus city property for their hotel to apartment project on Jadwin. Other Fortify properties have problems.
Fortify Holdings representatives told the city that they now have financing to buy the strip of property that they negotiated to buy last year. The city approved the sale of the surplus property between Jadwin Avenue and Cullum Avenue on May 16, 2023.
According to coversheet about the sale, included in the Tuesday council meeting packet, the first agreement expired when the buyers could not secure the financing to close on the sale of the $39,556 property by the contractually agreed deadline.
Other problems have cropped up for the hotel to apartment company.
The Tri-City Herald reported on January 24 that the city of Kennewick had boarded up a problem hotel in Kennewick owned by Fortify Holdings.
It’s not the only one of the Fortify hotels that has been boarded up.
According to Enforcement Supervisor Jason Ruffing, the city of Spokane has boarded up The Jackson. In Kalispell, MT, the city planning office told the Observer that the former hotel that Fortify had purchased there, the FairBridge Inn and Suites, had also been boarded up by the city. On January 9 a body was found in the building.
The hotel conversions in Spokane and Kalispell have been rocky from the start.
Fortify began renting rooms in The Imperial in Spokane without the proper building permits and the project was shut down in January 2022 and the process re-started. Recently, apartments there were became available to rent.
The sale of the hotel in Kalispell to Fortify resulted in 100 extended-stay guests being evicted on February 12, 2022.