Lumber prices may affect homeowners insurance

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler warns that soaring lumber prices are not just bad news for homebuilders, do-it-yourselfers and others who need lumber. It’s bad for homeowners as well.

The increase in construction costs could change the amount of insurance coverage needed for homes. More coverage means higher premiums.

Homeowners insurance typically covers replacement costs, but the commissioner’s office notes that with construction prices rising, current policies may not be sufficient. Homeowners should reach out to their insurance agents to ensure they have enough replacement coverage.

Richland docs buy Pasco’s Cousin’s restaurant

The Richland doctors who established Health First Urgent Care at Columbia Point in 2020 have bought the Cousin’s Restaurant building in Pasco.

Dr. Prabjhot “Jyoti” Kahlon and Dr. Janmeet Sahota paid $2.3 million for the former restaurant building at 4605 Road 68, north of Interstate 182. The couple said they are working with the city of Pasco on potential uses before announcing if it will become a new outpost for their urgent care business.

Kahlon, who has worked in area emergency rooms, opened Health First Urgent Care in a former mattress store near Winco at Richland’s Columbia Point last August. Sahota practices at Tri-City Orthopedic.

Their private, independent Richland clinic treats nonthreatening conditions such as colds and flu, scrapes, cuts and broken bones. Patients with life threatening conditions are encouraged to go directly to the nearest emergency room.

Applebee’s staying put after tough lease renewal talks

The Kennewick Applebee’s Neighborhood Restaurant is staying put after tough lease renewal negotiations prompted its landlord to enlist NAI Tri-Cities to market its building to new tenants.

Applebee’s, 606 N. Columbia Center Blvd., was pitched as a highly-visible retail location with nearly 33,000 vehicles passing by each day and asking rent of $22 per square foot per year on a triple net basis. Triple net or, NNN, means tenants take full responsibility for the building, including taxes and insurance.

Both the restaurant manager and Todd Sternfeld, the broker representing the property, confirmed that the two sides were far apart during renewal talks, but that after the listing went live, the two sides came together. Applebee’s has a new lease and is staying open.

The listing was advertised online and in a print advertisement for NAI Tri-Cities in the June edition of the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business. Sternfeld said the listing was deactivated about the time the newspaper reached subscribers.

The Kennewick Applebee’s is owned and operated by Apple American Group, a division of Flynn Restaurant Group, a nationwide operator of Applebee’s and other restaurant brands, including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Wendy’s.

The 1991-built restaurant boasts 8,432 square feet of retail space with outdoor seating and ample parking facing Columbia Center Boulevard as well as North Colorado Street to the rear.

Diners also have the choice of Applebee’s locations on Road 68 in Pasco and Columbia Point Drive in Richland.

Richland Fred Meyer has new landlord

Benderson Development, a commercial real estate investment firm based in Sarasota, Florida, bought the Richland Fred Meyer store and associated McDonald’s restaurant at 101 Wellsian Way for a combined $7.6 million.

Benderson, operating through FM Richland F LLC, purchased the 170,000-square-foot Fred Meyer and its 14-acre site for $6.3 million, and the 3,457-square-foot McDonald’s location for $753,000.

Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. was the seller in both cases.

Benderson owns and manages more than 750 properties with a combined 40 million square feet in 39 states. It invests in a variety of commercial property types, including retail, office/industrial and hotel.

The Richland investment appears to be its first in Eastern Washington.

The company, which could not be reached to comment on its latest investment, owns several retail properties in western Washington, including a Fred Meyer in Bonney Lake, Home Depot on Delridge Way Southwest in Seattle, a Sam’s Store on Aurora Avenue North in Seattle and a Safeway in Everett.

City chooses Total Site Services to build Pasco park

Total Site Services of Richland will build Pasco’s newest neighborhood park on a five-acre parcel south of Interstate 182 and east of Road 68.

The $1 million Chapel Hill Park site was deeded to the city for a future park It is being developed with a playfield, picnic areas, basketball court, walking path, community garden and separate playgrounds for younger and older children.

The project includes $728,000 for construction and $200,000 for playground purchase. The city received a small grant to pay for the playground gear.

Eviction moratorium amended, extended

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has modified the state’s eviction moratorium to Sept. 30 to give officials time to implement housing stability programs established by the 2021 Legislature.

The extension, described as a “bridge,” allows the state to transition to tenant protections established in SB 5160. The state expects $650 million in federal relief dollars to become available in July. An additional $500 million was released earlier by the Department of Commerce to local governments.

The governor implemented the original moratorium in March 2020 to prevent tenants from being evicted in the middle of a pandemic. Under the new order, new provisions will support renters and landlords until the resources and programs become available.

Landlords are prohibited from evicting a tenant for past due rent between Feb. 29 2020, and July 31, 2021, until an operational rental assistance program and eviction resolution are in place in their county. Landlords also are prohibited from treating past unpaid rent and other charges as an enforceable debt until both parties have an opportunity to resolve the issue through an eviction resolution pilot program.

Under the new rules, renters are expected to pay rent or actively seek assistance funding beginning Aug. 1. Landlords may evict tenants if those actions are not taken. Tenants must be provided a written description of services and support available.

Kennewick waterfront plan approved

The Port of Kennewick has approved a development plan for its downtown waterfront that became a stand-in for separate plans to include low-income housing at one of the properties it owns near Clover Island.

The port commission voted 3-0 to approve the Kennewick Historic Waterfront District master plan, noting that the plan is a “30,000-foot” guide to residential, commercial and recreational development. It does not authorize construction of affordable housing at The Willows, the former manufactured home park the port owns at the entrance to Clover Island.

The port controversially agreed to partner with the Kennewick Housing Authority on a federal Build Back Better infrastructure grant to bring utilities to The Willows in exchange for including low-income housing in the future development mix. 

The port’s elected leaders said that any specific projects in the future will be thoroughly reviewed.

Go to portofkennewick.org/historicwaterfrontdistrict-4.

PitchBook: Blackstone bets big on housing market

PitchBook, a Seattle news site that tracks private equity, has reported on the details behind Wall Street’s controversial interest in single-family homes.

The real estate arm of The Blackstone Group Inc., the global equity giant that invests on behalf of pension funds and institutions, has a deal to acquire a majority stake in Home Partners of America in a deal that values the company at $6 billion. Chicago-based HPA owns more than 17,000 homes across the U.S. and offers rent-to-own programs for its residents.

New York-based Blackstone previously launched Invitation Homes following the 2008 housing collapse that enabled it to buy “large swaths” of foreclosed single-family homes. Invitation went public in 2017 and Blackstone sold the rest of its stake in 2019.

Blackstone previously invested $300 million in Tricon Residential, a Canadian operator of single-family housing rentals, according to PitchBook.

Blackstone values its current global real estate portfolio at $378 billion.

Jiu-jitsu academy leases space in Pasco

Evol Octopus LLC, a jiu-jitsu academy, leased retail space at 5200 Outlet Drive, Suite 5216, in Pasco’s Broadmoor Park.

It planned to move in in May.

Lance Bacon and Chad Carper of Kiemle Hagood represented the landlord, Northwest Asset Management Co.

Travis Davis of Coldwell Banker Tomlinson represented the tenant.

Nova Health merges with new urgent care operator

Nova Health, an urgent care provider with two clinics in Richland, is merging with Louisiana-based SouthStar Urgent Care.

The merger will be completed in August. Terms were not disclosed but the deal will enable the combined company to expand nationally.

Both companies provide urgent care services. Nova operates 28 clinics in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. It has two Richland locations, the former Physicians Immediate Care clinics on Jadwin and on Gage. 

SouthStar has 28 clinics in Louisiana.

Each operation will retain its brand in the states where it currently operates.

Columbia Park apartments almost ready for renters

Vertisee Heights Apartments, a new complex in the 1100 block of Columbia Park Trail in Richland, will begin pre-leasing units to renters in August.

Vertisee is being built by Elite Construction and is owned by World Builders LLC, a joint venture of former Tri-Cities Fever players Lionell Singleton and Houston Lillard. The 24-unit property will be ready for move-in this winter.

World Builders hired The Paragon Group of Richland to manage its new property.

Ninth Circuit rules for Yakama tribe in dispute

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation in a long running dispute with Klickitat County over who has jurisdiction over 121,000 acres near Mt. Adams in a June 11 ruling.

The ruling affirms the acres are within the reservation area as laid out by the Treaty of 1855.

The dispute over the area known as Tract D, south of Mt. Adams, arose when the county attempted to prosecute a minor enrolled in the Tribe for acts that occurred within the disputed area.

The Yakamas sued the county, noting the tribe and federal government share jurisdiction over certain criminal and civil offenses. The tribe asked the court to bar the county from exercising jurisdiction over its members for offenses arising within the reservation borders, including Tract D.

The county countered that the tract was not part of the reservation. The courts disagreed.

“The Ninth Circuit’s decision is a resounding victory for the rights that our ancestors reserved in the Treaty of 1855,” said Yakama Nation Tribal Council Chairman Delano Saluskin.