Tri-Cities skyline... (Seattle, Bellevue, Kennewick: real estate, apartment complex, hotel)

[pnwguy2]

...doesn't exist. Due to the nature of how the metro has developed, there are no major downtowns, no clusters of tall buildings, etc.

However, I thought it would be interesting to list the tallest buildings in the Tri as of April 2019.

1. Kadlec Hospital (10 floors, 140 feet) Richland
2. Preferred Freezer Warehouse (no floors, 116 feet) Richland
3. Franklin County Courthouse (3 floors, 86 feet) Pasco
4. Keywaydin Plaza Apartments (7 floors, 85 feet) Kennewick
5. Best Western Plus Hotel (6 floors, 74 feet) Richland (former "M Hotel")
6. 820 N. 1st (6 floors, 73 feet) Pasco
7. Sacajawea Apartments (6 floors, 73 feet) Pasco
8. Federal Building/Courthouse (7 floors, 70 feet) Richland
9. Tri-Cities Professional Center (6 floors, 70 feet) Richland

So kind of the antithesis of Seattle and Bellevue to say the least. Anyone think we need more density, or are we just fine with the way things are?

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

...doesn't exist. Due to the nature of how the metro has developed, there are no major downtowns, no clusters of tall buildings, etc.

However, I thought it would be interesting to list the tallest buildings in the Tri as of April 2019.

1. Kadlec Hospital (10 floors, 140 feet) Richland
2. Preferred Freezer Warehouse (no floors, 116 feet) Richland
3. Franklin County Courthouse (3 floors, 86 feet) Pasco
4. Keywaydin Plaza Apartments (7 floors, 85 feet) Kennewick
5. Best Western Plus Hotel (6 floors, 74 feet) Richland (former "M Hotel")
6. 820 N. 1st (6 floors, 73 feet) Pasco
7. Sacajawea Apartments (6 floors, 73 feet) Pasco
8. Federal Building/Courthouse (7 floors, 70 feet) Richland
9. Tri-Cities Professional Center (6 floors, 70 feet) Richland

So kind of the antithesis of Seattle and Bellevue to say the least. Anyone think we need more density, or are we just fine with the way things are?

Pitiful, to me a city doesn't look like a cit without high rise buildings. I would like to see a real city develop and the most likely candidate to me of the 3 would be Richland.

[pnwguy2]

I tend to agree. Kennewick's original downtown has been over shadowed by new construction on Gage Boulevard, with several multi-story office towers.

Richland has a new low-rise apartment complex under construction at Jadwin and Geo Way.

If the Tri was magically merged into one city, things would change. Kennewick would likely be the center, near Gage and Steptoe and Columbia Center Blvd. I do not expect this to happen anytime soon, however.

[M3 Mitch]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

I tend to agree. Kennewick's original downtown has been over shadowed by new construction on Gage Boulevard, with several multi-story office towers.

Richland has a new low-rise apartment complex under construction at Jadwin and Geo Way.

If the Tri was magically merged into one city, things would change. Kennewick would likely be the center, near Gage and Steptoe and Columbia Center Blvd. I do not expect this to happen anytime soon, however.

You are probably right, and this is also the reason it's not likely to happen. Most people in Richland and Pasco would not want a "Kennewick takeover" of the entire Tri.


Then of course you have West Richland, which was just a few houses and one strip mall when I moved here in 91, but now has quite a few businesses, restaurants that I like.



I think the root cause of no really tall buildings is that there is too much relatively cheap real estate available. A really tall building only makes (financial) sense if building "up" is cheaper than building "out".

[pnwguy2]

Great point Mitch. Back in the 50’s and 60’s Los Angeles was in the same situation with no reason to build upward due to a lot of inexpensive land. Of course we all know how that turned out. So the question is does the Tri keep sprawling or do we increase density? I think here in 2019 we are more like Los Angeles of 60 years ago, of course on a different population scale.

[M3 Mitch]

Well, the *smart* answer would be to increase density, but the *cheap* answer is to keep on sprawlin'. I want to say that most really dense big cities are constrained by water and the proximity to it, for example New York. Nothing really constrains the Tri, which, anyway don't really work together, they compete against each other. Well, the rivers separate the cities, but the cities can grow out from the river, each more or less straight out from the center of the 3, nothing to hold them in.

[dr$rvb]

The city of Richland in the Tri-Cities is proposing to amend RMC 23.22.040 to increase the maximum building height within the Waterfront Zone from 55’ to 85’ (approximately 8 stories) and amend RMC 23.38.080 by removing the WATERFRONT ZONE from the area in which specific height allowances are allowed.


How do you feel about this?