Alturas history

[Dave Potter <3d@turbonet.com>]

A little history to inform this discussion:

In 1993, Advanced Hardware Architectures (AHA, a computer chip design
company), after having moved into the incubator as a 5 person company in
1990, but now bursting at the seams with over 40 employees, began looking
for a lot in Moscow to build on.  The EDC and the city of Moscow tried
desperately to locate something that was suitable, but no piece of land
that was appropriate or properly zoned could be found.  As a result, AHA
moved its business to Pullman, where they built in the technology park that
Schweitzer Engineering is located in.

AHA, a company that was founded by an Idaho native and UI graduate, based
on UI technology, and employing over 40 Moscow residents (who, with their
families, probably accounted for 120 people), had left Moscow because there
was no place like Alturas for it to go to.

Motivated by this loss, the EDC got to work to explore the creation of a
business park.  It's greatest purpose was to accomodate businesses that
Moscow would otherwise lose if it continued not to have a suitable,
professional, business park.  Through much work and collaboration between
the EDC, the University, the City, the State, and with explicit
consultation with Vision 2020 members, as well as public hearings about the
necessary re-zoning, Alturas was built.

The first company to build at Alturas, Pacific Simulation (Pac Sim, a
supplier of software simulation tools), with 30 employees, was an incubator
graduate that had been looking unsuccessfully for years to find a suitable
location to move to or build on.  Like AHA, its president is an Idaho
native and a UI graduate and its product is based on UI technology.
Without Alturas, Moscow could easily have lost Pac Sim to another community
the same way it lost AHA.

The second company to build at Alturas, Anatech Labs (an environmental
testing company), was also a Moscow company, founded (I believe) by UI
graduates.  They were bursting at the seams at the old Printcraft building,
and could easily have left Moscow for greener pastures if no suitable lot
or facility could be found, especially since they operate a branch lab and
office in Spokane.

When John Walker bought his lot at Alturas, it was NOT simply to build a
law office.  He was going to build a multi-tenant office building to
accomodate incubator graduates who needed the professional setting of a
business park, but weren't yet in a position to build their own building.
The EDC was delighted that someone was stepping forward to do this.  Being
the landlord of the building, it seemed appropriate for him to have his
office on the premises.

Obviously, what he has built is not a multi-tenant facility. Instead, his
building is designed to house only his law practice, but with an option to
build an adjoining facility to accomodate other tenants.  Unfortunately,
there is no Alturas requirement that he builds this extension.

While he went through proper channels (the Alturas Tenants Association and
its written by-laws) to get authorization to build only for himself, some
of us on the EDC board, myself included, weren't paying close attention
when it transformed from a multi-tenant facility (which would accomodate
incubator graduates) to a single-tenant law office.

While I personally find it a little embarrassing that we've dedicated an
entire lot of Alturas to a law office which does not specialize in
high-tech businesses (rather, primarily low-tech civil concerns), I still
believe whole-heartedly in the good sense of building the business park and
using tax-increment financing to build the infrastructure (road and utility
access).

The taxes that will go to paying off the bonds do NOT come from your taxes,
but from the property taxes corresponding to the lots and new buildings on
Alturas.  At least in the case of Pac Sim and Anatech, it can be argued
that these businesses may easily have moved from Moscow, where they would
pay property taxes to some other municipality.

Moscow needs a professional setting to accomodate the technology businesses
and individuals that want to stay in Moscow.  While I sympathize with the
sentiment that a civil law office might not be a logical tenant for
Alturas, let's recognize the great and appropriate need that Alturas
accomodates. 

Dave Potter


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