After over five years of consideration, Richland Council voted at their Tuesday meeting to sell 5.85 acres near Fred Meyer at 24 Lawless Drive by sealed bid. According to Deputy City Manager Joe Schiessl, it will likely be October before staff can schedule the sale of the property that is zoned for commercial development.
The council also approved a standard city sales contract for 1.86 acres at 2443 Henderson Loop in the Horn Rapids Business Center for a RV sales and showroom facility.
After the meeting, in response to a question by the Observer, Mayor Theresa Richardson said that her church is working on meeting the requirements in their surplus property sales contract for 350 Thayer Drive by paving and landscaping their parking lot.
The sale of Lawless Drive planned for October.
Schiessl told the Observer after the Tuesday meeting that bids for the sale of Lawless Drive, south of Thayer Drive and behind Fred Meyer, would be marketed “on or around October 1” due to staff schedules.
Schiessl later wrote the Observer in an email that buyers can contact Development Services Director Kerwin Jensen, kjensen@ci.richland.wa.us, to be placed on a notification list for this or any property for sale.
According to the resolution passed Tuesday, the city will sell the surplus property through the sealed bid process pursuant to RMC 3.06.040(A). The sale will be advertised for at least 10 calendar days before the final date for submitting bids. Bids shall be opened in public at the time and place stated, and the council may reject any and all bids.
The years long process began in 2018 when the coversheet for the sale of two parcels of city-owned property to Tim Bush noted, “The buyer also intends to work with the Washington State Department of Transportation and the city to acquire unneeded state and city right-of-way adjacent and south of the 3.83 acres of property subject to this purchase and sale agreement.”
Two acres of the 3.83 that Bush purchased are adjacent to 23 Lawless and are zoned C-2 for commercial development. His property currently has a “for sale of lease” sign on it.
A sale contract with a Horn Rapids RV dealership includes the usual provisions.
The owner of the Horn Rapids RV dealership purchased 1.86 acres for $486,130 to expand his business.
The contract had the usual requirements: The city has the right to reclaim the property if the buyer hasn’t submitted a building plan within 8 months of closing and initiated construction within 18 months. For 36 months after closing the city must approve a resale of the property. The right to repurchase shall survive for 36 months after closing or until the city issues a Certificate of Occupancy.
New Heights Church has until January 19, 2025, to pave a parking lot and fulfill the contract requirements for its purchase of city surplus property.
The contract that Richardson’s husband, David Richardson, signed on behalf of their church, New Heights Church, to purchase a .33-acre surplus property at 350 Thayer Drive has 24 months from the January 19, 2023, closing date to create a paved, lined and landscaped parking lot.
David Richardson negotiated with the city for different requirements for the church contract than the RV dealership received. The right to repurchase survives for 24 months instead of 36 months after the January 19, 2023, closing and the church can sell the land then without city approval.
According to the Mayor, the church is working on improving the parking lot that currently has gravel and railroad ties, but, she said, there are a lot of “moving parts