A Business Boom near the Fairgrounds?

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Story Published: Jul 15, 2009 at 6:39 PM PST

By Ryan Simms

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YAKIMA -- A new development is coming to Yakima and it's breaking ground in an unlikely place... along Fair Avenue.

On a vacant lot along Fair Avenue, it's out with the old and in with the new.

"There should be something going on on. We need growth. We definitely need growth," says lifelong Yakima resident, John Carrell.

Carrell has seen the area of Fairgrounds undergo some pretty drastic changes since he was a kid. But the prospect of a new shopping center excites him.

Construction on the 27,000 square-foot shopping center is scheduled to start by the end of the summer. Many residents hope that the new complex will motivate other businesses to operate in an area of town not used to seeing good news.

Bill Cook, Director of Yakima's Development, tells Action News that retail appears to be working near the fairgo\rounds, so it's only logical that other businesses would try to operate in the area.

The Yakima Development Department isn't sure if the new shopping center will touch off other growth in the area, but recent projects around the area point in a promising direction.

In the past year, two-dozen building permits have been issued here, which is remarkable for an area that has seen virtually no growth in the past decade.

John Carrell sees this as light at the end of the tunnel. "Things will get better," says Carrell. "They have to."

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