State Lawmakers Tour Tri-Cities Sites to Assess Housing Development Barriers

On October 1, more than 50 Washington state and local officials, including Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, took part in a six-stop housing tour across the Tri-Cities region to examine factors affecting residential development costs and land supply. The tour was organized by the Tri-City Development Council, the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Home Builders Association of Tri-Cities.

The event used the region of roughly 300,000 residents as an example of broader state housing pressures, with Washington facing an estimated need for 1.1 million new homes by 2044. At a Hayden Homes project in Richland, participants reviewed cost factors such as land, infrastructure, labor, materials, and permitting timelines. Deborah Flagan, vice president of community engagement at Hayden Homes, noted that complying with state energy codes and wildfire-hardening rules adds approximately $15,000 to the cost of a 1,100-square-foot home.

At the 1,480-acre Badger Mountain South development in Richland, officials reviewed land adjacent to existing infrastructure that currently sits outside the urban growth area boundary. Rep. Mari Leavitt discussed establishing a clearer process to evaluate whether parcels adjacent to existing utilities should be added to urban growth boundaries. Rep. April Connors, who represents the Tri-Cities in the Legislature, stated that existing boundary rules and annexation challenges restrict buildable land and increase housing costs.