Pratt Hills preparing to go vertical in Royal City
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 1 month AGO
The Pratt Hills development in Royal City is beginning to take shape. Construction on the homes is expected to begin at the end of this month, with infrastructure complete by the end of October.
R. HANS MILLER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Saddle Creek, east of Royal City, is under development by CAD Homes. The lots there are larger than CAD’s usual development and are sold independently of the homes.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | September 5, 2025 3:15 AM
ROYAL CITY — Some long-awaited homes are finally about to take shape in Royal City.
“We’re hoping to be started by the end of September with vertical construction, and then the civil infrastructure done probably by the end of October,” said Drew Scott, owner and manager of CAD Homes, which is developing the Pratt Hills neighborhood in the middle of Royal City.
The development has been a while in the making. Pratt Hills was originally proposed in October 2022, according to Columbia Basin Herald archives. Stormwater drainage issues created delays, CAD Land Development Manager Sara Prather said in an October 2023 interview. CAD had already built the neighborhood immediately adjacent to Pratt Hills in 2019, according to Prather.
Nest Realty is handling sales on the development, Scott said. There are 19 different floor plans available, according to the real estate website Zillow. Nest’s website had one home listed in Pratt Hills Wednesday, an 825-square-foot home priced at $297,210. About half the prospective homes have been sold, Scott estimated, even before construction began.
Besides Pratt Hills, CAD has another development in the works in the Royal City area. Saddle Creek, about 4 miles east of town across from the Royal City Golf Course, will consist of 14 homes on 5-acre lots with community water and irrigation, Scott said. The arrangement at Saddle Creek is a little different from CAD’s usual process, in that CAD is partnering with a local landowner to sell the lots separately from homes. The buyer can have a CAD home built on the site, or go with another builder, or just leave it empty if they like. About five of the 14 lots in that development have sold, Scott said.
Farther west, CAD has a development underway in Mattawa, Bodrero Estates, which is selling quickly, Scott said.
“We’re just about done there,” he said. “It has slowed down with interest rates creeping up, but it’s still been steady Eddie.”
Mattawa and Royal City have both been in need of housing for a long time, Scott said.
“I don’t know if anyone’s actually done a subdivision in my lifetime in Mattawa,” he said.
Saddle Creek, east of Royal City, is under development by CAD Homes. The lots there are larger than CAD’s usual development and are sold independently of the homes.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”