Summer is construction season in the Basin

Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald A worker unloads a delivery of shingles at a house under construction in Moses Lake. Summer construction season is in full swing.

by CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Staff Writer | July 21, 2017 3:00 AM

MOSES LAKE — It being summer, construction activity is at a fever pitch.

Construction continues on three separate apartment projects, houses are going up on Northeast Nelson Road, remodeling is continuing on that long-awaited Pita Pit. And, because growth has ripple effects, Moses Lake city officials have issued permits for portable classrooms at three elementary schools.

The three new apartment projects are on East Nelson Road, Central Drive and Ninth Avenue. The Solara Apartments on East Nelson Road are renting to tenants in some parts of the complex while others are still under construction. The exteriors of the Pioneer Meadows Apartments have reached three stories in some sections, while construction is still at the beginning stage in others. Most of the exterior walls are up at the Central Park Apartments on Central Avenue.

If the three projects are completed to their permitted size, they will add 546 apartments to the city’s inventory. The Solara Apartments project is permitted for 226 apartments, the Pioneer Meadows project is permitted for 189 units and the Central Park project for 129 units.

Site preparation is continuing for a “planned unit residential development” project on Division Street originally approved in 2008. Originally the project included housing and offices, but the Moses Lake Planning Commission received revised plans at its July 10 meeting. The building originally intended to house offices has been demolished, and the revised plan includes residential housing only. Six units are planned, all townhouses. Garages also are part of the development.

The Hayden Homes development off East Nelson Road has finished its second phase, according to information on the city’s website, and the third phase has been finalized. Construction is visible from SR 17, with roof trusses going up on some houses and shingles on others.

The new portable classrooms are at Park Orchard, Longview and Knolls Vista. Permits were issued in late June for all three projects.

Developers applied in February for a permit to remodel a currently empty storefront at 601 S. Pioneer Way (the former Hastings building). But the permit is still pending. A permit has been issued to finish remodeling on a new Pita Pit sandwich shop.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.