windermere tri-cities

The new Southridge Sports and Events Complex is 52 acres that include four baseball fields, two multi-use fields, room for four soccer fields and space to play everything from basketball to lacrosse.

The complex, at the the corner of Highway 395 and Hildebrand Road is exceptional because of its size and its combination of indoor and outdoor space.

The complex features four full-size baseball fields and two multi-use fields that can be used for everything from football to lacrosse.

The baseball outfields can be transformed into two full-sized soccer fields and two smaller soccer fields. The indoor sports pavilion offers 30,000 square feet of space, with 21,000 sq. ft. of playing surface. The remaining 9,000 sq. ft. offers  a stage, lobby, conference center and room for a food vendor.

The indoor facility is suited for everything from recreation programs and sport practices and games to weddings and smaller concerts.  The two other buildings at the complex include the plaza, which is located just outside of the pavilion. The smaller building houses a box office, restrooms and will have large outdoor screens to feature live sporting events and tournament brackets.

The other building is the hub, which is located in the center of the baseball fields.  The Hub includes an umpire changing room, concession stand and a coach’s meeting room.

Work on the $9 million complex started in the mid 1990′s when a sports field facility study was conducted by the city.

The large pavilion building will open to the public in January with a grand opening for the entire complex scheduled to take place in April. The facility is being paid for with help from a sales tax credit the city recently received through the state’s local revitalization financing program.

The Southridge complex will offer the area’s sports teams a place to play all year, without having to stop practicing when the weather gets bad. Instead, they can simply move their practices inside.

For more information on the Southridge Sports and Events Complex contact Brandon Lange at 585-4279 or visit the complex’s website at www.playSouthridge.com.

Article By: Mary Hopkin, Tri-City Area Journal of Business, December 2011

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tricityherald.com / News / Mid-Columbia News
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Published Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
Modified Wed, Jan 18, 2012 11:04 AM 11 Comments

Carousel project looks to be back on
By John Trumbo, Tri-City Herald
   
 Kennewick City Council heard a proposal Tuesday night by The Three Rivers Carousel Foundation to put the 1910 restored Charles Carmel carousel into a building near the Southridge Sports Complex in south Kennewick. Private donors would complete the project on property owned by the city. See story below.
KENNEWICK — The Kennewick City Council has agreed to let a group of influential business owners and community leaders have the reins in resurrecting its 44-horse carousel project.
“The goal is to complete the project without cost to taxpayers. … We will build a home for the carousel,” said Eric Van Winkle, chairman of the newly reconstituted board of directors of the Three Rivers Carousel Foundation, at a Tuesday special council workshop.
That home would place the 100-year-old carousel in a facility to be built near the Southridge Sports Complex in Kennewick.
The foundation committee’s preferred site is on city-owned land.
“We’d be hard-pressed to find a site that makes more sense,” Van Winkle said.
Kennewick council members asked a few questions, but generally were positive, then quickly nodded and voiced their approval.
“I appreciate your enthusiasm, but will it be self supporting?” asked Councilman Don Britain.
Dwight Marquart, owner of Tri-Cities Toyota and who worked quietly for nearly a year to pull together the new team effort, said the plan is to have a carousel facility and a separate building as an events center. Contractors and suppliers will donate toward the project.
But details about the operation aren’t yet sorted out, said City Manager Marie Mosley. “The foundation will be involved,” she said.
Mayor Steve Young said he was glad to see so many community leaders participating.
“This is citizens coming together to make this happen,” he said.
Councilman Bob Parks said he still wants Kennewick to get back the $830,000 it has put toward the carousel.
“It is good to see all this horsepower coming together, but I’d like to see some community support, not just this one group. This is five years too late,” he said.
Hubbard said he was still interested, if possible, in seeing the carousel go-round in Columbia Park, where it would be close to other community facilities such as the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center and an outdoor performing arts center, if both are built.
Councilman Bob Olson, who has urged the city to force a sale of the carousel so it can be reimbursed, changed his position after hearing the proposal.
“I threw as much cold water on this as anybody. But with (Councilman) Paul Parish in there, I say let’s go.”
Parish announced six months ago that he was going to try to keep the carousel project from grinding to a full stop.
“Now it has got a home and that’s what we need to raise the money,” he said.
Britain also asked how much money needed to be raised.
That is still an unknown, Van Winkle replied.
“In 90 to 120 days we can bring back some answers,” he said.
The carousel, created in 1910 by Charles Carmel, was purchased in 2003 by the foundation, largely with the city’s financial help.
Its 44 horses have been restored, but the mechanical system still is in pieces. The entire carousel is in storage in a city building.
Fundraising efforts during the past five years didn’t go well, and there were disagreements over where the carousel should be located — in Columbia Park or on the west side of the city near the Three Rivers Convention Center.
Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Brown called for setting deadlines on the new committee’s efforts.
But Young insisted that the group have some leeway to “do what they need to do.”
Van Winkle suggested a three- to four-month window of time, which all the council members indicated was acceptable.
The foundation committee listed several businesses willing to provide labor donations: Conner Construction, Brashear Electric, Bruce Inc. Heating and Air, Murley Floor Covering, Nichols Drywall, Creative Concrete, J & E Meza Plastering, Bagley Landscaping and Evergreen Plumbing.
Community leaders, who Olson had described as “heavy hitters,” willing to help the cause include: Van Winkle of Townsquare Media; Marquart; Dave Retter of Windermere Realty; Carlos Martinez of Dura-Shine Clean; Bill Lampson of Lampson International; and Barb Johnson of Columbia Center mall.
– On the net: www.facebook.com/carouselproject
– John Trumbo: 582-1529; jtrumbo@tricityherald.com

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/01/18/1791086/carousel-project-looks-to-be-back.html#storylink=cpy

windermere tri-cities

Economic Rebound – Tri-City Home Market Shows Promise

Sales picked up in fall after poor showing during summer

Kristi Pihl – Herald Staff Writer

It’s early, but 2012 is looking like a great year for the Tri-Cities home market.

The economy appears solid, interest rates are at historic lows and the area has many signs of a healthy market, according to local real estate agents.

Dave Retter, Windermere Real Estate/Tri-Cities owner and broker, said he is hearing from his real estate agents that buyers and sellers “are feeling pretty good about the Tri-Cities.”

The housing market picked up in the fall after what some called a dismal summer. 

There was exactly the same number of sales in December as there was in December 2010, Retter said. But the average sales price was nearly $207,000 for the 242 homes sold in December compared to about $205,000 in December of 2010.

“We’ve had a good finish to the fall,”he said.

And foreclosures were the lowest they have been in eight years, with 355 foreclosures in 2011 compared to 755 in 2010, according to a report by Benton-Franklin Title Company.

Last year, total sales were down from 2009 and 2010, but Tri-City real estate agents say those years were an anomaly because the federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers artificially inflated the number of sales.

A total of 2,856 homes were sold in the Tri-City area, including Benton City, Burbank and Finley, Retter said. That compares to 3,267 in 2010.

Last year, the average sale price increased form $196,833 in 2010 to $200,291, he said.

A 3 percent to 5 percent appreciation in home prices from year to year lends itself to a healthy market, Retter said.

As of Monday, there were 1,111 home listed on the market, which Retter said is normal for this time of year.

The Tri-Cities didn’t see an increase in home listings after Hanford layoffs were announced, he said.

“I’m very optimistic about what I am seeing in the marketplace and people’s attitudes,” Retter said.

Paul Roy, president of the Tri-City Association of Realtors, said he is excited about 2012 and happy with what he is seeing in the market.

The major difference is consumer confidence, Roy said.

during the summer, people heard about the national debt crisis and worried about the effect of upcoming Hanford layoffs. Confidence was low.

Now, Roy said, confidence is up.

“The better people feel about their lives and their jobs, the more likely they are to make a move,” he said.

Some of the decrease in sales can be attributed to families buying homes to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, Roy said.

The number of homes sales alone doesn’t indicate the strength of the local market, Roy said.

Prices increased slightly, and the area had fewer foreclosures than 2010. Last year, the rate of foreclosures was less than half of the 862 foreclosures in 2008, which was the most in eight years, the report said.

Meanwhile, homebuilders have described the number of new homes being built in the Tri-cities as sustainable.

More building permits were issued for new single-family homes in 2011 than in either 2008 or 2009, according to the Home Builders Association of Tri-Cities.

A total of 1,332 permits were issued last year compared to 1,513 in 2010, according to the report.

But the number of permits in 2011 was higher than in 2008 or 2009.

People who bought homes now will discover they have made a wise decision, Retter said, because as the economy improves, interest rates will escalate.

Roy said he is seeing a growing number of investors buyong oup and homes and turning them into rentals.

Many families can afford to buy a home for about the same cost as renting one, Roy said, adding that Tri-City rental prices have increased with the demand for apartments.

“We’ve just kind of settled back to where we were before the boom, and bust started,” he said. ” We are calling it the new norm.”

Kristi Pihl: 582.1312 : kpihl@tricityherald.com