Extended-stay hotel opens in Richland

Travelers visiting the Tri-Cities will now have a new option: an extended-stay hotel.

LivAway Suites recently opened the $12 million hotel at 1289 Tapteal Drive in Richland. It’s the company’s second installation, just a few months after the first hotel opened in West Jordan, Utah.

LivAway Suites focuses on offering straightforward services and essential amenities to provide a comfortable and affordable stay for both long- and short-term visitors.

The development company, West77 Partners, plans to develop 10 to 15 LivAway Suites hotels in Washington in the coming years, said Dan Barrett, West77 Partners’ president in a statement.

Afghan restaurant opens in Pasco

An Afghan restaurant opened last month in downtown Pasco. Tri-Cities Afghan Food serves up food from savory kebabs to spiced rice dishes at the Pasco Specialty Kitchen.

Located at 110 S. Fourth Ave., Pasco Specialty Kitchen is part of Pasco’s efforts to support small businesses and serves as a center for culinary entrepreneurs.

Tri-Cities Afghan Food is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

Officials break ground  on new hotel by airport

Airport officials, community leaders and hospitality representatives gathered Nov. 25 to break ground on a new Home2 Suites by Hilton near the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco.

The $9.5 million hotel at 2101 W. Argent Road will have 107 rooms and will offer extended-stay accommodations with modern amenities, including fully-equipped kitchens, complimentary Wi-Fi and flexible living spaces.

The project is being developed by A-1 Hospitality Group and joins the developer’s Courtyard Marriott, also located near the airport, helping to accommodate the increasing number of travelers the airport serves each year.

It is scheduled to open in spring 2026.

Fowler General Construction is the general contractor.

Costs remain high for WA affordable housing projects

Funds provided by the Washington Department of Commerce in 2023 to build affordable housing statewide, including a project in Kennewick, saw projects with fewer individual homes on average than in past years.

A new report from the Department of Commerce looked at the cost of building more than 1,200 new affordable units with money from the fund last year. It shows project costs dipped but remained up overall statewide.

Many affordable housing developers layer multiple types of funding to get projects built, including the Housing Trust Fund and the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit. About 81% of projects included in the report had both these types of funding.

The new report included projects that submitted final development cost data to Commerce between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023. Other multifamily housing projects not covered in the report received Housing Trust Fund dollars during this time but had not submitted cost certification documents.

The median cost per unit for multifamily housing that received Housing Trust Fund support in 2023 was $301,744. That’s down from 2022 when the median was $316,097.

The report included a Kennewick housing project, which cost less than the statewide median to build.

Homes in the 16-unit Kennewick micro homes complex cost $209,752 per unit, or $421 per square foot, according to the report. The complex serves veterans, families with children and the general low-income population.

The Kennewick Housing Authority’s Lilac Homes was completed in 2021 at 128 E. 13th Ave.

– Washington State Standard

Lamb Weston opens new Netherlands plant

As Lamb Weston announces the closure of a plant in Connell, it also celebrated the opening of a new plant in the Netherlands.

Lamb Weston’s new plant in Kruiningen, Netherlands, opened Nov. 7.

The expansion has been in the works for five years, and the plant is expected to increase the company’s annual production capacity by 195 kilos. It’s the second facility for frozen potato projects in Kruiningen.

The company said 120 new employees will be hired to work at the Kruiningen plant, bringing the total of Lamb Weston employees in the area to 650.

The company is also one of the largest employers in the Tri-Cities area, with more than 2,600 full-time equivalent employees as of Oct. 1, 2024. Roughly 375 employees were laid off when the company closed its Connell plant in October.