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Moscow technology park gets more aggressive [Lewiston Tribune, Idaho :: ](Lewiston Morning Tribune (ID) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 29--MOSCOW -- Alturas Technology Park will expire Dec. 31, 2015, as an urban renewal district. Until then -- and even after, if necessary -- the Moscow Urban Renewal Agency will push hard to sell the remaining six vacant lots in the research and technology business park across from Eastside Marketplace on State Highway 8. Gary Riedner, interim director for the agency and Moscow's city supervisor, said this is the first year lots within the park have been marketed. Shelley Bennett, who owns Palouse Commercial Real Estate, was hired this spring to try to sell the properties. "What we hope to accomplish is that we are able to sell those lots to businesses that fit into the park and encourage economic development -- that's our hope," Riedner said. The technology park was established in 1996 as an urban renewal district -- an area in town that has been rehabilitated to stimulate economic growth -- with a 20-year life. It is one of the only places in Moscow zoned for research and technology offices. Riedner said the park was created when it became apparent that entrepreneurs in a business incubator on Sweet Avenue needed somewhere to expand their growing companies. The development zone also allows for professional offices that support technology and research, like accounting firms and lawyers. There was a demand for the lots within the business park when it was first created, Riedner said, which prompted a second phase of development. All but one of the initial lots have been sold and developed. But sales on the remaining property in the district halted when the recession hit in 2007, he said, and there weren't many entrepreneurs looking to start businesses or invest in a building. There has only been one lot purchased in the second phase of the district. Bennett said she and her employees are "dialing for dollars" right now, meaning they are researching businesses that fit the zoning criteria to recruit them for Alturas. No offers on any of the six available properties had been made as of Thursday. The real estate team has also been working to develop marketing material for the Palouse. Bennett said Moscow and Pullman are not easily found when business owners are looking for a place to set up shop. "So we have to sort of go to a little extra work to make sure people know we're here," she said. If the lots are not sold by the time the district closes next year, then the agency will maintain its ownership of the property. "The URA will continue to market (the lots) and they will still be available for sale," Riedner said. The property tax revenue from new development in the area now being funneled into infrastructure improvements in the district will be distributed to six Latah County taxing districts when it closes, Riedner said. In the meantime, the business owners and employees already located in the park want to maintain the research campus feel that exists in Alturas Technology Park. Robin Wood, a business development officer at Alturas Analytics, said she is a longtime supporter of the business park and would like to see zoning stay the same in the remaining lots that are purchased. "I'm a proponent of staying the course," Wood said. Wood moved into the park while working with Anatek Labs Inc., a full-service environmental analytical testing laboratory, after the business outgrew its location on South Main Street. Wood said Anatek Labs also has a location in Spokane, where the company could have expanded. "This was a good opportunity to invest locally," Wood said of the technology park. The technology park has given both Anatek Labs and Alturas Analytics a synergy by clustering similar businesses, Wood said. She thinks the park's intent to draw in research and technology has been successful. "We're still moving in the direction we were originally intended to be in," she said. Rudd may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 791-8465. Follow her on Twitter @elizabeth_rudd. ___ (c)2014 the Lewiston Tribune (Lewiston, Idaho) Visit the Lewiston Tribune (Lewiston, Idaho) at www.lmtribune.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |