Longtime Tri-Cities developer of luxury, hillside neighborhoods dies

Milo Boyd Bauder, a prominent Tri-Cities developer whose projects transformed local hills into luxury neighborhoods, died Thursday in Richland. He was 93.

Bauder was born in Sterling, Colo., and moved to the Tri-Cities as a child, making it his home for 83 years.

He graduated from Kennewick High School in 1949 and married his high school sweetheart, Donna “Sissy” Luonne Bauder, two years later.

They were married 61 years until her death in 2012 . They had four children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Bauder dedicated his working life to farming, building and land development.

More recent developments include Southcliffe in Kennewick, a partnership he established with the late Robert Young more 20 years ago to bring residential development to the south side of Thompson Hill.

The development, approved in concept by Kennewick officials in 2012 , was originally set to have about 400 lots. It was revamped with larger lots and will have about 265 homes by the time the final phase wraps up.

His impact was equally felt in Richland, where the Bauder family established Westcliffe LLC in 2002 to develop the upper reaches of Little Badger Mountain.

By 2019, 16 phases of Wescliffe had yielded 368 home sites, though not all had been developed.

Bauder donated 15.7 acres near his Falconcrest development on the ridge of Little Badger Mountain to the city of Richland in 2012 to be used for open space, according to Tri-City Herald archives.

Mueller’s Tri-Cities Funeral Home is handling his services.

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