May 2017
Volume 16 • Issue 5
Tri-City real estate agents targeting homeowners directly BY ELSIE PUIG
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
Retirement
Aging-in-place builders create homes for long-term living Page 12
Real Estate & Construction
Einan’s at Sunset completes $2 million remodel Page 21
Tourism & Recreation
Enjoy lunch, dinner aboard Water2Wine’s yacht page 37
he Said It “We need a young upstart company that focuses on high-tech products and services that is willing to invest in the community while building a strong work force for the future.” -Steve Young, mayor of Kennewick Page 43
Bryan Verhei of Retter & Company Sotheby’s International Realty is getting ready to send potential clients a direct mail piece with home maintenance tips. It’s a little more lighthearted than one he sent in early April urging homeowners to put their home up for sale. At the time he wrote the letter, there were 384 homes on the market, compared to the 1,200 homes historically available in the TriCities. This marketing technique is called farming, and although many real estate agents use the strategy to build name recognition, for others, it’s a way to encourage homeowners to sell. “It’s pretty rough how many fewer houses there are, and buyers are not going away. Even with the rising house prices, they are still saving money because interest rates have been so low. They are being bought up as quickly as they can. Some are only on the market a few days” Verhei said. But did Verhei’s marketing technique work? He said he hasn’t received any calls as a result of the letter and said he uses the strategy mostly for personal branding to get his name out there. The number of homes available has increased slightly since then, said Verhei, but the sentiment still holds true: there is more demand than inventory. “Two hours after sending that letter, the number of homes went up,” Verhei said. “I will say that a couple of days ago we got over 400 homes on the market but that’s changing all the time. We’re just recovering from a winter that has been brutal. It kept people from listing their homes. Interest rates have been at an all-time low so it has brought in a lot more buyers, and builders couldn’t build during the winter because the ground was frozen.” Verhei said he hopes to see more new construction soon so people not inclined to sell could buy a new home. “I have several homes pending representing the buyer and some sellers, and we won’t see that improve until we get more inventory,” Verhei said. uHOMEOWNERS, Page 25
The expansion of Griggs Ace Hardware & Sporting Goods store into the vacant Hastings store at 1425 George Washington Way is expected to be completed this summer. Grigg Enterprises bought the space for $5.5 million.
Griggs Ace Hardware expanding into vacant Hastings space in Richland BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz
A loyal customer base at the Griggs Ace Hardware & Sporting Goods store in north Richland has prompted an expansion into the vacant space next door once occupied by Hastings Books Music & Video. “The vision is that sometime this summer we’ll have that store up and going,” said Charlie Grigg, vice president of Pascobased Grigg Enterprises, which operates three other Ace stores in the Tri-Cities. The company paid $5.5 million for the building last month. It made more sense to buy the building instead of leasing, Grigg said, though it
was a “paralyzing amount of money” to sign a loan for. Bank of the West and the Small Business Administration provided the 25-year loan. The new building will allow the Richland store to double in size to about 40,000 square feet. Approximately 10,000 square feet will be available for lease, as Grigg doesn’t plan to use the entire space for the hardware store. “Our current store is cram-packed full of merchandise that it’s hard to shop,” he said. The expansion will allow the store to “merchandise things a little bit better” and expand the sporting goods section, as well as add work wear, including boots. uGRIGGS, Page 4
Tri-Cities’ twin ‘Property Brothers’ share real estate success BY ROBIN WOJTANIK
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
Tri-Cities’ real-life “Property Brothers,” David and Nathan Croskrey have found success as a team, building, buying and selling properties around the area for decades. But it’s not a business model they would recommend for everyone. The identical twins credit their faith and shared values for fueling their strong partnership. Nearly 25 years after their first purchase, the brothers have bought, built and sold dozens of properties across the Tri-Cities. Their current project is a $1.3 million commercial building being built on Queensgate Drive, just north of Keene Road in Richland. It will house Oasis Physical Therapy’s fourth clinic and bring the first
Orangetheory Fitness to the Tri-Cities. It’s a part of town Croskrey Properties first broke ground on more than a decade ago, back before anchor stores like the Richland Walmart opened. “People thought we were crazy,” said Nathan Croskrey, adding, “People think we are risk takers, but we don’t think we are because we’ve been evaluating things over the years.” Their calculations have led the brothers to try and fail more than once before settling on commercial construction as the focus of their careers. The brothers didn’t grow up dreaming of running a business together. Nathan attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and spent five years flying helicopters for the Army. uCROSKREY, Page 31
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