Take an early look at the ‘game changer’ project to connect Queensgate Drive in Richland
Construction is feverishly underway on a new north-south street that will be the final connection from central Richland via the Duportail Bridge to southern Kennewick.
The last undeveloped stretch of Queensgate Drive could open as early as this fall.
The last link in the chain comes courtesy of a retail and commercial development that’s creating a stir in south Richland.
BrickWise Homes, the Tri-Cities builder and developer of the 48-acre Terraces at Queensgate project, will complete Queensgate as it works to add homes and businesses at one of Richland’s busier intersections.
The development has been in the works for several years, but the recent arrival of graders at the site has sparked a flurry of questions to the Herald about the former Keen Road orchard.
BrickWise Homes is an arm of Columbia Valley Property Holdings, the Bellevue company that bought the collection of parcels south of Keene/Queensgate intersection in 2022.
It spent several years working with the city of Richland to rezone the property and secure approval development plans.
The project is referred to as The Terraces at Queensgate as well as “Queensgate South” in various public documents.
The first phase will bring more than 100 housing units and neighborhood retail shops to the area.
The second will install more commercial development, including possible apartments.
But first, BrickWise is completing the last gap in Queensgate Drive, running through its development.
Game changer
A complete Queensgate will be a game changer not just for the development, but for local traffic, said Jeff Smart, the Realtor representing BrickWise.
The new stretch will be built to city standards and will have a roundabout on one end, the spot where Shockley Road turns uphill to become Queensgate near the highly popular Badger Mountain hiking area.
Once built, the road will be turned over to the city.
The new stretch of Queensgate is critical to how homes and businesses will be laid out on the property. It’s also important to the greater Tri-Cities.
The uninterrupted Queensgate will give Tri-City motorists an easier route between Rancho Reata in south Kennewick and the future Costco Wholesale store and sprawling Queensgate retail and restaurant complex in Richland.
The completed road will extend from Kennedy Road at the north, where Costco plans to build its second local outlet, through intersections at Duportail Street, Interstate 182 and Keene Road.
Queensgate then climbs to the Little Badger Mountain saddle. At the summit, it becomes Bermuda Road and descends into Kennewick, near Interstate 82 and Dallas Road.
The city has long wanted to complete Queensgate.
$5 million project
In 2018, Richland rebuilt the road between I-182 and Keene with wider lanes, sidewalks, turn lanes and roundabouts at the freeway ramps and at Columbia Park Trail.
The $5 million rebuild stopped at busy Keene Road, with a former apple orchard blocking it’s route south.
Connecting the two ends is an important step, said Kerwin Jensen, the city’s community development director.
So too is bringing new commercial development and the sales taxes it generates to an important site in Richland’s fast-growing south side.
“It’s all part of the important economic cycle. We rely on the retail sales tax,” Jensen said.
The Queensgate connection is important to easing traffic, but it’s also key to converting the property into a future neighborhood.
The Terraces will be a cluster of higher-end residential, retail and commercial development built in two phases. Queensgate serves as a handy dividing line, carving the property in half.
Phase 1: Homes and retail
Construction will begin on the western half, where the Terraces shares a border with Country Ridge.
BrickWise will create 18 half-acre lots for single-family homes closest to the upscale Country Ridge neighborhood.
The neighborhood’s homeowners association negotiated the buffer zone when the city rezoned to allow denser development to the east.
Smart said BrickWise plans to to build one model home and expects to sell the remaining sites to buyers who want custom-built homes.
A collection of 89 townhomes will be built between Queensgate and Lambert. They are being marketed for sale in the low $500,000s and will feature rooftop decks.
The western half of the site includes land for commercial development too.
Derrick Stricker, principal with Stricker CRE, is marketing a 4.7-acre parcel fronting Keene and the future Queensgate to commercial developers. The site has an asking price of nearly $5 million.
Stricker said his phone hasn’t stopped ringing since his signs were installed along Keene in March.
Callers include a mix of curious drivers wondering what’s happening on the property and commercial builders who see an opportunity in a site with affluent neighbors and easy access to the freeway.
He anticipates restaurants, retailers and neighborhood-focused development to counter the car-centric shopping centers clustered in the Queensgate/Duportail area to the north.
Phase 2: Commercial, apartments
The 20+ acres east of Queensgate are zoned for commercial development. Smart said he’s working with prospective developers.
He’s even received letters of interest from businesses wanting to secure sites.
“We know who they are and what they want to do,” he said.
He declined to identify possible developments without a signed deal in place.
That said, he said the prospects are exciting, though may not be quite what Tri-Citians expect.
He predicted the consumer-facing commercial development — think , restaurant, retail and office — will end up concentrating along Keene Road.
Multi-family development — apartments — would round out the commercial development on the east side, possibly facing the townhomes across Queensgate.
About the dust
Grading the site to accommodate the future road and residential sites involves moving about 150,000 cubic yards of material around the property, according to state planning documents.
To control dust and airborne material, the project is required to water and hydroseed the area during construction.
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