Japanese restaurant coming to Kennewick’s Vista Field after sale. Here’s what may be next

The Port of Kennewick has closed its first land sale at Vista Field — 11 years after it closed the municipal airport and invited private developers to convert it into a walkable village.

Isabelle Yuri Na paid $95,000 for a small parcel that borders the former runway. She plans to build a Japanese restaurant, Kuki Izakaya, with partner Bumki Hong.

Tim Arntzen, the port’s executive director, confirmed the deal is done. He signed the papers and collected a check for Lot 15, aka 697 Crosswind Blvd.

Na, whose company owns Ara Sushi as well as Chicken & Bowl in Richland, was the first private business owner to publicly confirm plans to build at Vista Field in early 2023.

Na, who also goes by Yoori Nah, followed through with a formal offer, which the port accepted in February.

The port has several more deals in the pipeline, but Kuki Izakaya is the first to cross the finish line with a signed sale and title transfer.

Na applied for a building permit from the city of Kennewick in March. The permit, which is pending, indicates the 3,500-square-foot restaurant will cost about $700,000 to build.

LPR Architecture is the designer, Construction Services of Washington LLC is the contractor.

Other Vista Field offers

The remaining deals in the Vista Field pipeline promise to bring a mix of homes, apartments, condominiums, a bridal shop and even a vision clinic, to Vista Field. The deals are all pending but have not closed.

Blueberry Bridal — Owner Amber Keller wants to move her high-end bridal boutique to Vista Field. The port accepted her offer to buy Lot 18 at Crosswind Boulevard and Azure Drive in 2023. She was the first to make a formal offe r but the deal has not closed.

Akula Group Apartments and Retail — The Vancouver-based developer wants to build a 40,000-square-foot, five-story mixed use building with homes and retailers on Lot 25, at Crosswind Boulevard and Constellation Way. The $8 million project would overlook an artificial stream passing through the heart of Vista Field.

Columbia Pointe Eye Care — Richland Drs. Brandon Furness and Royce Barney of Cantley Vision Inc. want to build a 6,800-square-foot building for a clinic on Lot 31. The site is on Azure Drive, near a plaza. The port accepted their offer of $143,000 for the site in July, which started a 90-day negotiating period. Hummel Construction and Development is on tap to build the $2 million project.

BlueChart Homes — A Western Washington development team consisting of Levi Holmes and Ben Paulus wants to build 300 single-family homes along the former runway over a span of seven years. The port commission accepted its offer to pay $2.2 million for the initial 28 lots in June, starting a 90-day negotiation process. That was extended an additional two months in August. BlueChart is a joint venture of Chartwell Land Co of Silverdale and Blue Fern Development of Redmond that is interested in urban development.

Former Kennewick airport

The port closed Vista Field to aviation at the end of 2013 and is converting the 103-acre site in central Kennewick into a mixed-used development.

It invested about $5 million to build roads, sidewalks, street lights and a water feature to encourage private development. It put the first sites up for sale in 2022 . All builders must conform to the design standards for the area.

The port itself is renovating a pair of former hangars into a public plaza it calls the “Southern Gateway.” The $2.1 million project, funded through the Benton County Rural Capital Fund, began earlier this year.

When fully developed, Vista Field is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars of private investment in buildings and infrastructure, supporting tax rolls and providing housing and jobs.

Go to vistafield.com .

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