PUD mulls over future of obsolete housing, office site near Beverly

BEVERLY - Grant County PUD will soon have no need for the office and housing complex commonly known as Wanapum Village and is contemplating what to do with the site.

“Staff is currently working through the process of a feasibility study to determine the best path forward for this property once staff moves into the new hydro engineering office space near Wanapum Dam,” PUD publicist Thomas Stredwick said.

The new hydro engineering office, under construction at Wanapum Dam, is slated to be complete by mid 2014. All PUD staff housed at the Wanapum Village will be moved to that site.

Although the housing-offices site on highway 243 is known as Wanapum Village, Stredwick noted that it really is just an office complex and a housing complex. The real Wanapum Village is located elsewhere and is inhabited by the Wanapum Tribe, he said.

The misnomer applied to the complex may have come from the history of the complex. It was built by the PUD during construction of Priest Rapids and Wanapum Dams as housing for workers and a school for their children.

The school-like building houses PUD personnel today and so do some of the houses. Other houses are rented out to individual families by the PUD.

According to Stredwick, the PUD does not see itself becoming a property management company or landlord in the future. Therefore there will be no need for the complex.

Once the feasibility study is complete, staff will determine the best options, Stredwick said. Some of the options under consideration are:

• Demolish the existing housing and retain the large office complex.

• Demolish the existing housing and sell the office complex.

• Sell the entire property as-is.

“There are a number of other scenarios that are possible, but we won’t have those until the feasibility study is completed,” Stredwick said.

“The main takeaway at this point is that no decisions have been made to determine what the future holds for this site,” he added. “Any action on this property will come before the board of commissioners.”

The office-housing complex consists of 55 acres east of Hwy 243 and west of Beverly-Burke Road, just a couple of miles from Beverly. It includes 30 stick-built homes, a 2.5-acre park, an office complex and approximately 28 acres of vacant land.

“As it currently sits, the property is non-conforming to current county development standards and lacks the ability to have legal individual lots sold,” Stredwick said.

Stredwick anticipates the study will be completed by the end of this year. At that time the PUD should know the best path forward.