*Correction: Jan. 18, property at 404 Thayer is .43 acres not 43 acres.
Richland Mayor Theresa Richardson’s efforts to grow her church through two land transactions with the city of Richland in 2022, her first year as councilmember, may pay off. The New Heights Church has purchased a bigger facility and sale of their current location could help pay for it.
The current church property at the traffic circle at Duportail Street and Thayer Drive has likely increased in value since a small group including Theresa Richardson and her husband David Richardson, took over the former Richland Heights Baptist Church in 2021. In November of that year, Theresa Richardson was elected to the Richland City Council.
The church, built in 1955, sits on an .88-acre lot at 390 Thayer, according to Benton County property records. The two land transactions through the city of Richland include a .43-acre piece north of Duportail at 404 Thayer that the city council voted to change from single family to multi-family zoning on January 4, 2022, and a .33-acre piece of former city surplus property at 350 Thayer south of the church that New Heights bought for $125,000 on January 19, 2023.
Councilmember Theresa Richardson voted to approve city council resolutions involving both the zoning change and the sale of the city property despite possible violations of Richland ethics codes. The Richland City Council hasn’t appointed an ethics committee for about 25 years.
The 404 Thayer property was sold to church-connected developer Tim Bush on September 30, 2021, for $70,000 and then sold back to the church on December 6, 2024, for $215,000.
David Richardson, who negotiated with the city on behalf of the church for the sale of 350 Thayer, signed paperwork on June 30, 2025, for the New Heights Church to buy the Northwest United Protestant Church property on 1312 Sacramento Blvd. for $1,550,000, records show. The church building along with the parking lot, sits on over three acres, almost twice as much land and a bigger building than New Heights owns at the traffic circle at Thayer and Duportail.
New Heights Church officials did not respond to the Observer’s email asking if and when they planned to sell the church properties on Thayer.