Kennewick Real Estate Blog

Kennewick Business News Update

Matt McGee — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:55:05 +0000

Here’s a look at what’s going on in and around the Kennewick business community:

Chell Design is now open at 11 S. Benton St. Suite A in downtown Kennewick. The studio offers custom painting/art, murals, decorative finishes, and more. The studio also offers art classes for both adults and children.
Rite Aid is planning to build a new pharmacy at the corner of Gage and Steptoe (real close to where Kennewick and Richland meet) in what is now the vacant Steptoe Food Mart/gas station property. The company hopes to open the new store in late spring 2011. The existing Rite Aid on the Columbia Center Mall grounds will be closed.
Fred’s Appliance, a Spokane-based appliance chain, is planning to build and open its first Tri-Cities store at Columbia Center Blvd. and Fourth Avenue in Kennewick. They hope to start construction next month and be open in November.

As always, if you know of any Kennewick business news we should be sharing, please drop us a note.

This is a post from the Kennewick Real Estate Blog.

Kennewick Business News Update

Fats Domino, Concert Posters, and Kennewick History

Matt McGee — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:14:15 +0000

Oh, I wish I knew more about Kennewick’s history. Here’s why:

I was in Cleveland for a few days last month. That’s where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is (one of my favorite places ever). As I was arriving in Cleveland and walking through the airport to get my suitcase, there was a display of rock concert posters on the wall. And this one caught my eye:

(click for larger version)

That’s a reproduction on the airport wall. I know that because, when I visited the Rock Hall a few days into my visit, I saw the original inside. And yes, it was very cool to see “Kennewick” mentioned by name in such an important place for music history. The poster dates back to 1959. According to this web site, he played down in Klamath Falls the night before, and in Portland two nights before the Kennewick show. But this web site has a concert poster showing that he performed in Vancouver, BC, the night before the Kennewick concert.

All of this really tickled my curiosity. I never knew that the legendary Fats Domino performed in Kennewick, and I never heard of a place called the Tri-City Center. I’ve been doing some searching online, and there’s nothing about the Tri-City Center to be found anywhere.

The only other thing I found online about this poster/concert is this web site where, even though they list the year incorrectly as 1955, you can buy a print of the poster for only $5. (I’ve never heard of that web site and have no idea how trustworthy it is; this is not an endorsement/recommendation.)

UPDATE: Joe from VintageConcertPosters.com sent us this link to another Fats Domino poster, which shows that he played the same Tri-City Center venue on June 29, 1962. Thx Joe.

Do you know anything about the Tri-City Center? Do you know someone who was around back then and who would know? I’d love to hear about this place — where was it? What is it now? Comments are open.

This is a post from the Kennewick Real Estate Blog.

Fats Domino, Concert Posters, and Kennewick History

Home for Christmas concert was terrific

Kamiakin HS on Newsweek’s Top Schools List (again)

Matt McGee — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:05:29 +0000

This is getting redundant, isn’t it? Kamiakin High School is, once again, on Newsweek magazine’s list of the Best High Schools in America. Congrats! This is Kamiakin’s fourth consecutive year to make the list.

This year Kamiakin ranks at #1,058 overall, on a list of 1,600 schools. Just by being included, Kamiakin can say that it’s among the top six percent of high schools in the U.S. It’s also listed as the 17th-best high school in Washington; you can see the full list of Washington honorees here.

Newsweek’s rankings are based on stats related to how many advanced placement tests are taken by students, as well as how many students graduate each year.

This is a post from the Kennewick Real Estate Blog.

Kamiakin HS on Newsweek’s Top Schools List (again)

New York Richie’s: Restaurant Review

Matt McGee — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:15:15 +0000

New York Richie’s is one of the newest restaurants to open in Kennewick, and I think it’ll become one of the places I visit a lot with family, friends, and business partners. I had my first meal there today at lunch to talk business with a friend, and am already thinking about when to bring the family back for their first taste of New York Richie’s.

It sits in a somewhat small space in the strip mall at 5011 Clearwater Avenue, and that’s one of the first impressions you get — it’s smaller than I expected, with maybe 15-20 tables/booths. It’s clean, and the atmosphere inside is good. I think there were 3-4 big screen TVs up on the walls, all showing a World Cup soccer match. It wasn’t too loud at all.

There’s no traditional waiter service; you walk up to the counter and place your order, then a staffer brings it out to your table. Our lunch was ready in about five minutes, it seemed. Perfect timing.

Even though the restaurant advertises “New York Style Sandwiches and Pizza,” they serve a Philly Cheese Steak. And since I grew up right outside Philadelphia, I had to try it out today. I have pretty high standards when it comes to restaurant cheese steaks (i.e., very few establishments that serve “Philly” cheese steaks should be allowed to use the name), but my cheese steak today was very good. First off, it was huge. It had to be bigger than the foot-long sandwiches you can get elsewhere. It was served in halves, and each half had to be 7-8 inches long. And filled with plenty of meat. It wasn’t quite as good as a true Philly cheese steak, but to be fair … nothing is. I’d definitely order it again in the future.

Not knowing in advance how big the sandwich was, I also ordered a side of french fries. Didn’t need them, which explains why the sandwiches don’t come with fries. The fries were good, and there was a lot of them. But I didn’t need to spend the extra $3 (which seems a tad high regardless of how full I was after the sandwich).

New York Richie’s is well-known for its pizza; I’ll have to try it the next time. I saw 4-5 people at other tables enjoying the pizza, and the slices were as large as advertised. For reference, a full-size pizza is a whopping 20-inches, so picture a slice of that.

Overall, the prices were very fair. The cheese steak was only $7.95, which is a good deal considering its size. The fries were a little spendier than I thought they should’ve been. The two of us ate today for a total of $24 and change. If I’d known that I wouldn’t need the fries, the meal would’ve been closer to $20 — that’s super for a two-person lunch.

To wrap it up … New York Richie’s is good and I’ll be back again. It fills an interesting and needed space in the local restaurant landscape: a quick, relatively inexpensive, sandwich and pizza place that’s perfect for casual meals.

This is a post from the Kennewick Real Estate Blog.

New York Richie’s: Restaurant Review

Free Movies This Summer at Regal Cinemas, Kennewick

Matt McGee — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 23:56:14 +0000

School’s out and that means a lot of folks are going to be looking for things to do with their kids this summer. Regal Cinemas in Kennewick is helping again with a summer-full of free movies beginning June 22nd and ending August 19th.

The free movies will be shown every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 10 am. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Here’s the schedule for Regal Cinemas in Kennewick:

June 22-23-24, 2010: Tale of Despereaux (G), Coraline (PG)
June 29-30, July 1 2010: Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything (G), Astro Boy (PG)
July 6-7-8, 2010: Charlotte’s Web (G), Planet 51 (PG)
July 13-14-15, 2010: The Rugrats Movie (G), Ice Age 3 (PG)
July 20-21-22, 2010: Rugrats In Paris (G), Kung Fu Panda (PG)
July 27-28-29, 2010: Wallace & Gromit (G), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (PG)
August 3-4-5, 2010: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (G), Monsters vs. Aliens (PG)
August 10-11-12, 2010: Doogal (G), Hotel for Dogs (PG)
August 17-18-19, 2010: Muppets From Space (G), Paul Blart: Mall Cop (PG)

The schedule is subject to change, so you may want to check with Regal Cinemas before showing up at the mall for this summer’s free kids movies.

This is a post from the Kennewick Real Estate Blog.

Free Movies This Summer at Regal Cinemas, Kennewick

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Temporary Street Light Coming to Edison St. Off-Ramp

Matt McGee — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:51:29 +0000

Hats off to KEPR-TV for doing a nice job reporting and following up on plans to add a street light to the seemingly always backed-up Edison St. off-ramp from Hwy. 240. This past Friday night, KEPR reported that installation of a temporary street light there should start around July 4th and will cost about $42,000.

The DOT is considering either a permanent street light or a roundabout as the long-term solution for easing traffic at this exit, but they don’t have the money to study which option would be best.

Here’s the video of KEPR’s story.

This is a post from the Kennewick Real Estate Blog.

Temporary Street Light Coming to Edison St. Off-Ramp

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Edison St. is Preferred Columbia River Bridge Option

Matt McGee — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:13:31 +0000

It’s not a binding choice by any means, but Tri-Citians have indicated that a new bridge between Edison St. in Kennewick and Road 68 in Pasco is their preferred option if such a bridge is ever approved and built. The consultants who are working on the Columbia River Crossing Study have posted a bunch of info on their web site, including this chart showing that 37% of survey respondents listed an Edison St. bridge as their top choice to meet existing and future travel needs.

It’s hard to read (sorry), but the second option that got the most public support is a new bridge between Columbia Center Blvd. and Road 100. The consultants reviewed the survey results and a bunch of other factors (costs, traffic volume, neighborhood impact, etc.) and have narrowed the original 10 options down to these four:

#1 –A new span located just north of the Hanford 300 Area and connects to Columbia River Road and W Sagemoor Road on the east.

#5 — A new span from Columbia Center Boulevard in Kennewick to Road 100 in Pasco

#6 — A new span from Edison Street in Kennewick to Road 68 in Pasco

#7 – An additional bridge next to the existing US 395 “Blue Bridge

Here’s what they look like on a CRCSTC map (the finalists are in red):

You should check out the CRCSTC.com site for more information and maps. There’ll be another survey coming later this summer to get public input on those four finalists.

This is a post from the Kennewick Real Estate Blog.

Edison St. is Preferred Columbia River Bridge Option

Kennewick Business News Roundup

Matt McGee — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:37:17 +0000

Here’s a quick look at what’s going on in the Kennewick business community these days.

Debby’s Brown Bag Deli is now open for business at 525 N. Edison Street. It offers fresh sandwiches, along with homemade soups and salads. The deli is open weekdays frtom 5:30 am to 3:00 pm. You can phone in your order ahead of time and then pick it up at the deli’s drive-thru window.
Lisa McGee Decor (no relation!) will open in July in downtown Kennewick. It’s a quilting and clothing store, and will also offer quilting lessons.
Lunkers, a fishing bait and tackle shop, is now open for business on West Entiat Avenue in downtown Kennewick. It’s located across from Hubby’s Pizza. The store offers all kinds of fishing gear and supplies, and is co-owned by Steve and Kerry Lee. Steve is a former pro bass fisherman. Lunkers is open from noon to 6 pm, Tuesday thru Friday. It’s also open from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays.

As always, if you know of a new business opening in Kennewick, or have other Kennewick business news to share, please contact us.

This is a post from the Kennewick Real Estate Blog.

Kennewick Business News Roundup

Kennewick 3-on-3 Basketball Tourney Coming in August

Matt McGee — Wed, 19 May 2010 23:35:13 +0000

Downtown for Three, Kennewick’s annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament, is back for its third edition this summer. The event will take place on Saturday and Sunday, August 14th and 15th, 2010 on the streets of downtown Kennewick.

If you’re planning on signing up, visit the tournament web site to download the official rules and the registration brochure. Those are available now. Entry fees must be turned in by July 31st to be guaranteed a spot in the tournament.

The tournament has separate brackets for boys and girls ranging from 1st grade up to high school. There are also men’s and women’s adult-level brackets, and an elite bracket for more experienced basketball players. (That elite bracket will have a division for folks 6-feet and under, too.)

Team entry fees range from $80 to $120.

All of this is being organized by the Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership. Pacific Steel & Recycling is the primary sponsor, and other local businesses and organizations are also providing support.

This is a post from the Kennewick Real Estate Blog.

Kennewick 3-on-3 Basketball Tourney Coming in August

Kennewick 3-on-3 Basketball Tourney back for 2009

Habitat for Humanity, Home Builders Assn. doing “Blitz Build”

Matt McGee — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:33:33 +0000

The Home Builders Association of the Tri-Cities is partnering with the local Habitat for Humanity chapter this week for an event in Kennewick called “Blitz Build.”

The aim of Blitz Build is to build five new homes in just five days! And it looks like they got off to a great start today. There are some Monday morning photos on the Habitat for Humanity Tri-Cities web site. And the Home Builders Association has posted about three dozen photos on Facebook. Here’s a cool one:

Blitz Build goes on all this week (May 17-21, 2010) and if you want to volunteer to help out, just stop by 606 & 612 Wyoming Street in Kennewick. All helping hands will be appreciated!

This is a post from the Kennewick Real Estate Blog.

Habitat for Humanity, Home Builders Assn. doing “Blitz Build”

Kennewick Real Estate Featured on CNNMoney