The Tree Farm unites veteran developers-could be on market in late 2015

            Although awaiting a decision by a land use hearing officer, the Tree Farm residential community of larger lots in the “urban interface” just outside Bend’s westside boundary could be on the market by late 2015, one of the partners told a group of real estate professionals.

            Tree Farm would encompass about 530 acres off Skyliners Road and bordered on the west by Shevlin Park, with more than 400 acres in open space including publicly accessible trails. Some of the lots would be along the rim above the Tumalo Creek canyon.

The property is owned by the Miller family, owners of Miller Lumber Company with Charlie Miller and his sister, Connie, representing the family. Their father, former Bend mayor Bill Miller, purchased the property in 1955 and the family last harvested it in the late 1990s.

          Kirk Schueler, a principal in The Tree Farm LLC and  veteran Bend developer, said Thursday (Nov 20) that the development group hopes to have 30 of the propsed 50 lots ready for sale by the Fall of next year

            Besides the Miller family and Schueler, the development group also involves West Bend Property 2, which includes Brooks Resources, Tennant Development and Ron White. Brooks is responsible for development of Awbrey Butte, North Rim and Black Butte Ranch and teamed with Tennant Development, led by Mike Tennant, on the successful Northwest Crossing to the east of the proposed Tree Farm.

            Schueler is a former President and Chief Financial Officer of Brooks Resources and in more than 17 years with at the company was involved with Awbrey Butte, Northwest Crossing and other well-known Bend communities.

Objective not to hold lots

             In bringing Tree Farm lots to market, Schueler said,“The goal is to price them competitively. We hope to sell them out in two years,”  He cited Tetherow across Skyliners Road, and North Rim, a Brooks Resources project on ther north edge of Awbrey Butte, as possible pricing comparables.

             But he added the  strategy would likely be to wait on pricing lots until “probably a month before release.”

            Thus far CCRs and design guidelines have not been finalized. But Schueler said that at present there is no plan to establish time-to-build deadlines. Minimum or maximum lot sizes have also not been set and he acknowledged that smaller homes of less than 3,000 square feet might be a possibility.

            Essentially, the project would follow “the old Awbrey Butte model-not Northwest Crossing,” Schueler said.

Master Plan site map

            Awbrey Butte, originally developed by Brooks Resources, was begun in the 1980s as a larger lot project by Brooks Resources and partners. Northwest Crossing came to market in the early 2000s with mostly smaller lots of less  than 6,000 square feet.

             Schueler also revealed that West Bend Property 2 members have an option to purchase from the Miller family 240 acres just east of the project. This could possibly be brought into Bend’s urban growth boundary (UGB).

            The purchase would be “entirely subject to UGB,” Shueler said.  The property, now referred to only as Northwest Crossing II, could add 750-800 housing units in a combination of single family, townhomes and apartments. The original Northwest Crossing currently has potential for 1,300 units at buildout.

            Schueler acknowledged Bend’s protracted process to gain state approval of an urban growth plan. Given the problems, Northwest Crossing II could be “2, 3, 4, 5 years” out “if the UGB gets into the quagmire as it is now,”  he said.

            Bend’s state mandated urban growth plan to provide land needed for residential and commercial development was remanded in 2010 by the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission. Among other issues, LCDC said the plan did not adequately address increasing density in potential development areas already within the existing city growth boundary.

County hearing officer hears testimony 

             Schueler’s presentation at AmeriTitle in Bend was followed that evening by a public hearing before county hearing officer Karen Green. Although recommended for approval by the county planning staff, several groups and individuals have raised questions about Tree Farm.

             The county staff findings specifically address the developers application for a cluster development for 10 lots on 109 acres, although that segmeent was reviewed concurrently with the other four parcels which would have an additional 40 lots.

Among the issues Green has under review  are impacts on wildlife habitat, traffic and fire protection and suppression.

            At the Tuesday evening hearing in response to Green’s questions,  representatives for the developers addressed a number of issues:

• confirmed there were no plans to later bring open space in Tree Farm into the UGB
• said that  deer habitat and migration corridors would not be adversely affected, noting that most deer would migrate along the Tumalo Creek corridor
• maintained that the project would be a leader in Oregon for establishing National Fire Protection Association standards of fire protection, and that adequate water in case of fire would be supplemented by cisterns.
• said that it was unlikely that there would be “industrial activity” such as timber harvest on adjacent Forest Service land, which is mostly used for biking and hiking trails at present.

        Green said she would keep the record open for additional written comments and planned another site visit.

            County staff staff report noted the planners had sent notice of the proposed project to landowners within 250 feet of the project but received only two comments.

One of these were joint comments from two persons favoring the developer plans for open space, clustering to prevent sprawl and extension of trails access north to connect with Shevlin Park.

         An opponent expressed concern that affordable housing is a need in Bend and that adequate home sites are currently available in other projects for, “the most fortunate of us.” Traffic congestion and the potential for contributing to, “another housing bubble..” were also mentioned in the response.

         Last minute comments were also filed by Central Oregon Land Watch, often an opponent of growth and new development. Those were not available for the public attending the hearing.  

Larger lot project proposed for Bend's west side urban-rural interface

            The development team that created Bend’s highly-successful Northwest Crossing is joining another landowner to create a low-density community on more than 500 acres on the city's west-side boundary.

            Known as The Tree Farm on the Deschutes County land use application, the project brings together members of the Miller Lumber Co. family, the owners of the property, and West Bend Property Company LLC, an equal partnership of Tennant Family Limited Partnership and Brooks Resources.

            West Bend Property launched Northwest Crossing in the early 2000s as a master-planned “traditional neighborhood” that now includes single family and town home residences, parks, a retail and office area, schools and pedestrian trails.

Most Northwest Crossing lots are less than 6,000 square feet with a few larger ones of more than 8,000, or about one-quarter acre. The Northwest Crossing master plan allows for up to approximately 1,100 homes on 483 acres, including 200 now proposed for a 93 acre parcel across Mt. Washington Drive from the original development envelope.

            In an application for conditional use permits to Deschutes County, the Tree Farm developers outlined plans for 50 homes, each on about 2 acres, in five clusters of 10 homes each. Each of the five clusters would have a minimum of 81 acres of open space, or more than 400 total in the approximately 533-acre project.

Transect model from Center for Applied Transect Studies

            The concept, developers have said, is to create a community that provides a buffer between more rural land adjacent to an urban neighborhood,

            In comments to local media, the project director Romy Mortensen was quoted that the Tree Farm would be developed along an urban “transect” model to provide a transition between more dense city areas, such as Northwest Crossing, and land where “urbanization onto parks and other public lands seems highly unlikely.”

            A proponent of the rural-to-urban transect is Andres Duany, a principal in the Miami and Washington, DC urban planning firm, Duany Platy-Zyberk. The firm web site www.dpz.com notes that it has been in the forefront of “the New Urbanism movement with innovative techniques to combat urban sprawl.”

Tree Farm tentative master plan

            The Tree Farm property lies mostly in the county’s urban area reserve zone that allows 10 acre lots in areas next to urban boundaries. An example of this is the Highlands at Broken Top community adjacent to the Tetherow golf course and resort community across Skyliners Road from the proposed project.

Homes the Tree Farm would be on the northern edge of the property line, away from Skyliners Road to the south and Shevlin Park to the west according to the development application.     

            The Tree Farm would not be gated and would offer protected open space with public access adjoining Shevlin Park to the east, the developers have said.

            In an  Aug. 20 e-mail on file with the county, a planning official wrote that a hearing date for the project had been tentatively scheduled for Oct. 7, although a final date would be announced after comments from various agencies and the public have been received.

Bend in Brief February 2016 - Air Service, Hotels, New Developments

Up Up and Away - new direct flights to Phoenix, regional airport makeover

            Bend and Central Oregon will be connected by direct air service to another major destination beginning in June with the start of daily nonstop flights to Sky Harbor International in Phoenix.

            The service will initially use the airline’s regional jets, a 67-passenger Bombardier CRJ-700, with daily departures at 12:01 to arrive in Phoenix at 2:20 pm and returns daily from Phoenix at 8:15 pm with arrival in Redmond at 10:20 pm.

            As with other flights from the Redmond’s Roberts Field  regional airport, the Phoenix service is made possible in part with a $500,000 federal Department of Transportation grant to smaller national airports, to be matched by $100,000 in funds from businesses and other sources in Central Oregon.

            The new service will follow a planned runway resurfacing at Roberts Field that will require shutting down all service from May 2-22. The closure is necessary because of the airport’s X-configured intersecting runways and has been planned well in advance as part of regular maintenance.

            The new Phoenix flights join direct flights by other carriers to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Salt Lake City as well as Portland the Seattle in the Northwest.

Prestigious award for Bend’s Oxford Hotel

            Downtown Bend’s Oxford Hotel is keeping prestigious company with other hotels in the country named in the top 25 Traveler’s Choice awards of online travel company Tripadvisor.

            The Oxford joins such well-know properties as The Sherry-Netherland in New York City; Bardessono, Yountville, CA; Auberge du Soleil, Rutherford, CA; Tivoli Lodge, Vail;  and Inn at the Market, Seattle.

            Among travelers’ favorable comments in 778 reviews posted to Tripadvisor were such features as deep soaking tubs, complimentary bicycles, valet service, garage self parking, steam showrs and French press coffee in rooms.

The Oxford Hotel right looking down Minnesota Ave

            As one guest commented, “We stayed....during a cycling trip through Central Oregon. We had expectations of a nice, upscale hotel in a lovely town. What we got was far more. Besides the fact that the property is beautiful, the rooms are great the the location is ideal...what really shone most brightly was the incredible staff...”

            The Tripadvisor award follows the Oxford’s honor as the No. 1 hotel in the Pacific Northwest by Conde Nast Traveler.

Hotel boom mirrors Bend economic growth

            The past two years have seen a boom in new hotels either planned, under construction or opened in Bend.

            These include:

·        My Place opened in winter of 2016 at SW Bond Street east of the Old Mill District, a project of a South Dakota group.

·        Hampton Inn and Suites opened in Fall of 2015 above the Old Mill District south parking lot adjacent to Les Schwab Amphitheater.

·        Mariott Springhill Suites planned for the site of the former Brooks-Scanlon logging company crane shed off Industrial Way near the Old Mill District

·        A plan for hotel operated by InnSight Hotel Management Group near Pioneer Park north of downtown Bend.

·        Peppertree Hospitality group’s plan for a hotel at the roundabout of SW Mt. Washington Drive and SW Century drive, with potentially 120 rooms.

Prineville continues growth as data center hub

            With major facilities already completed for Facebook and Apple another data center could be in the planning stages  in Prineville.

            Legacy Ranches LLC, a Chicago based company, has closed on 1,424 acres adjacent to the Prineville airport and is asking the city to annex 160 of those acres, a move that would change the zoning from agriculture to industrial.

            Legacy also owns land formerly plannned from the Remington Ranch golf resort between Prineville and Redmond. The bankrupt project was purchased in foreclosure from Columbia Bank for $2.5 million after the resort’s fortunes plummeted with the real estate crash of the past decade.

            Thus far the company’s representatives have not said a data center is planned but Crook County and Prineville officials have noted it would be an appropriate location.

Major mixed use project with Fred Meyer on the way

            A prime block of land along Bend’s inside Bend’s northwest perimeter could be the site for a new project that would include the city’s second Fred Meyer retailer, multi-family residential and a hotel.

            The 51-acre site is north of the Cascade Village Shoppintg Center on Hwy 20 between Robal Lane and Cooley Road.

            The potential developer is Powell Development of Kirkland, WA, whose portfolio has included previous projects for Fred Meyer as well as Costco,  Walgreens, Albertson’s, Target and Lowe’s in the Northwest.

            According to the company’s website biography it has developed more than 60 properties in the Northwest and Utah since founded in 1989 by Lloyd and Peter Powell.

            One issue that the development would face is the need for an additional street access from Highway 20. Also involved would be changes to Bend’s transportation plan and a rezone.

            A formal application to the city’s planning commission is anticipated to be filed in March.

Environmental group drops appeal to Tree Farm residential project

            The proposed 533-acre Tree Farm residential community planned just outside Bend’s western boundary no longer faces an appeal to Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals by Central Oregon LandWatch.

            The group, which often challenges projects based on environmental and other land use issues, announced in early February that it had dropped an appeal based on potential fire risk and wildlife habitat issues.

            The Tree Farm is planned to have 50 homesites laid out to leave maximum open space with trails that will be open to the public for access to adjacent Forest Service land. Access will be from Skyliners Road.

            Developers include the Miller Family, longtime operators of Miller Lumber, along with Brooks Resources, developer of Northwest Crossing, Awbrey Butte and North Rim, and other investors.

http://bendisbetter.blogspot.com/search?q=tree+farm+bend

           

           

Tree Farm urban interface project gains county approval

            After making revisions to address concerns over wildlife protections and wildfire control, the proposed 50 home Tree Farm development plan on Bend’s west side has been approved by Deschutes County Commissioners.

            In a decision September 23 the commissioners agreed that issues raised by a hearings officer who turned down the original plan had been adequately addressed.

            The new decision includes revisions that will:

·        require a 30-foot home setback from slopes with grades greater than 20 percent, or a fireproof barrier such as a wall if less than the setback.

·        involve a new access road from NW Crosby Drive for emergency and fire access

·        include more than 90 percent open space within the 530 acre project, with homes sited outside of traditional wildlife migration areas.

 The Tree Farm is a venture of the Miller family which has owned timberland and wood products companies in the region for many years and has logged the property in the past. Other investors are  West Bend Property 2, which includes Brooks Resources, Tennant Development, Kirk Schueler and Ron White.

Developers have said the project is an example of a transitional buffer from higher density neighborhoods within the city limits to the east and public lands and large private property parcels to the west.

            For more detail on Tree Farm follow this link to an earlier post:

Friday, November 21, 2014

The Tree Farm unites veteran developers-could be on market in late 2015

Massive timberland sale raises questions for Deschutes and Klamath projects

            The mammoth sale of nearly 200,000 acres of Timberland in Deschutes and Klamath counties has created concern over  conservation-oriented initiatives by the Klamath Tribes and the Deschutes Basin Land Trust.

            In a Feb. 18 statement, Cascade Timberlands, a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Ventures, announced the sale for $63 million to Whitefish  Cascade Forest Resources LLC. The buyer is registered in Oregon but with a Singapore address as its principal place of business.
            The mailing address is the Seattle law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, attention Peter Mostow.

            The acreage includes the 90,000 acre Mazama Tree Farm along highway 97 between Chiloquin and Chemult  that  the Klamath Tribes had foreseen acquiring for reservation land.

            Also involved is approximately 33,000 acres south of Highway 20 between Bend and Sisters that the Deschutes Basin Land Trust has for nearly a decade hoped would become part of a purchase to protect the important view corridor to the Cascades and be managed for sustainable forest harvest.

            Cascade Timberlands acquired the property from previous investors who had assumed control of the former Crown Pacific timber company which had entered bankruptcy.

            Initially Cascade Timberlands announced it would seek to develop large estate size lots on the property between Sisters and Bend. State law restricts the size of partitions within forest zoned land.

            The company then went to the Oregon legislature in an attempt to reserve a portion for residential development while also discussing the possibility of selling most of the tract  to the Land Trust, which the organization has called Skyline Forest. The land was previously known as the Bull Springs Tree Farm.

            The conservation group has consistently promoted the possible purchase from Cascade Timberlands in its newsletters to supporters, and has encouraged bike riding and hiking in the area. 

 Tax records show Deschutes land valued at approximately $330 per acre

            Deschutes County property records show there were 41 tax accounts related to the Skyline Forest timberland with the assessor's estimated real market value of approximately $330 per acre, or $10,890,000 for 33,000 acres. The county clerk's office reports the deed was transferred to Whitefish Cascade on Feb. 17. The deed does not give a sale price but references an "asset purchase agreement" dated Oct. 19, 2014, although that document is not found in the clerk's records.

            In 2010 the Rooster Rock wildfire burned through more than 6,000 acres starting at the western boundary of the land.  The Two Bulls fire in the summer of 2014 burned nearly 7,000 acres and forced the evacuation of subdivisions on Bend’s west side.

A section of Bull Springs Tree Farm in distance

            In an Associated Press report, Klamath Tribal chairman Don Gentry raised the prospect that the inability of the Klamath Tribes to acquire the timberland in Klamath County could affect a provision in the  Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement intended to resolve issues related to water rights allocated for fish habitat and irrigators. 
           The tribe reportedly agreed in late 2008  to purchase 90,000 acres of the timberland that was formerly part of the reservation for $21 million.

           Gentry was quoted by the AP  that the option the tribe had to purchase the land, known as Mazama Tree Farm, had expired.  A notice regarding the option coming due was overlooked when emailed to a tribal member who was no longer involved in tribal government, he said.

Buyers are connected through a Chinese interactive internet company

            Both principals recorded as members of the new timberland LLC appear to be, or have been, associated with companies that were part of the Shanda Group, a Chinese interactive entertainment and online gaming conglomerate.

            The managing member of the Whitefish Cascade LLC is recorded as Ting Kong Lee, who Bloomberg Business reports was or is senior vice president and chief tax officer for Shanda Group.

            The other member is Quian Quian Chrissy Luo. In November of 2011 Reuters reported that Luo’s husband, Tianquia Chen, at the time chief executive of Shanda Interactive, led an effort to take the company private in a transaction valued at $2.3 billion. Chen, his brother, David, and Luo became the new owners.

            At the time of its SEC 13D filing for companies traded on US exchanges through ADRs, or American Depository Receipts, the new company was listed as having a Hong Kong address.

The Two Bulls Fire as seen from Awbrey Butte in Bend

            Reuters said that Shanda Interactive had in 2009 spun off Shanda Games, its online games operation.

            According to SEC filings in August of 2013,  Luo also owned nearly 5 million shares, or about 6% of the stock, in Millenial Media, a Boston-based company providing  mobile advertising and data platform for apps. It is traded on the NYSE under the symbol MM and recently closed at $1.60 per share.

            Fidelity sought to find "another use" for cash in the timberland

  The seller, Cascade Timberlands, is one of numerous entities controlled by Financial National Financial, a Fortune 500 company  whose holdings also include Fidelity National Title Co., the nation's largest title insurance company.

            Fidelity Chairman William Foley has diversified FNF into a broad range of holdings, including a group of branded chain restaurants. Through his personal ventures in a spectrum of other companies he acquired  Whitefish Mountain Resort in Whitefish, MT (formerly Big Mountain ski area) and developed the Rock Creek Cattle Company, an exclusive gated working residential estate ranch with a golf course near Deer Lodge, MT.

            Foley’s personal holdings also include the Foley Wine Group, which owns vineyards and more than a dozen wine labels including Firestone and Sebastiani in California and Three Rivers in Walla Walla, as well as in Italy and other countries.
          "We are excited to monetize the value of Cascade for our shareholders," Foley said in a statement posted Feb 18 on the FNF's web site.
          "We have been owners of Cascade for approximately eight years and believe it is in the best interest of our shareholders to monetize the value of this land at this time and seek another use for this cash in the hopes of maximizing the value of our FNFV assets."
            It is not clear from company annual reports and other documents how much it paid for the timberland. However, the 2013 annual report notes it recorded a "$6 million impairment" in 2012 related to Cascade Timberlands.
           FNF's core business is a collection of title companies including Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Commonwealth Land Title and Alamo Title, which the company says lead the nation in the number of title insurance policies issued. Fidelity National Financial Ventures, the holding entity for Cascade Timberlands, trades on the New York Stock Exchange as what the company identifies as a "tracking stock" under the symbol FNFV.  Company statements say the stock performance is intended to  "highlight the inherent value of the portfolio company investments of Fidelity National Financial Inc."

--photos by Lee Hicks

Previous posts - relevant issues
Bend and Whitefish...distant cousins in real estate investment

Scenic forest between Bend & Sisters spurs conservation effort

 

County and Bend proposals have major land use impacts

            Recent separate land use proposals by Deschutes County and the city of Bend promise to make significant changes in development patterns within and just outside city boundaries.          
            Dechutes County is on track to approve potentially large residential lots in what’s being called a “transect” on private land in the county but within Bend’s approved urban growth boundary. The county says it will consider the city’s input as the proposal moves forward.

Property proposed in transect zone

            The land involves parcels of approximately 700 acres on Bend’s northwest edge that extends along Tumalo Creek. Under consideration is allowing more than 180 homes, far less than the nearly 2,000 that would be allowed if brought into the city and zoned residential standard, RS, for standard single family development.

            After several attempts over nearly a decade the city gained approval in 2016 of its Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) plan from the state Department of Land Use and Construction. A key sticking point had been the state’s contention that Bend was not planning adequately for development of “infill” properties already within city boundaries.

            The state approved the plan after Bend scaled back plans to 2,300 acres its original proposal to add nearly 9,000 acres to the urban growth boundary. State law requires municipalities to plan for additional land to accommodate development over 20-year

Defining development zones for a transect

periods.

            Given that the proposed 700 acres, although now within the county, is within Bend’s urban growth boundary it’s likely that at some point it will be brought into the city.

            In the other significant land use issue, the city planning commission has forwarded for full council review a proposed code change that would ease the way for duplex and triplex construction on lots currently zoned residential standard, RS, that now permit only single family homes.

            As approved by the planning commission, duplexes would be allowed on lots of at least 6,000 square feet, and triplexes on those of 9,000 square feet. It would also allow a single family homes to be removed for construction of either duplex or triplexes.

            There would be limitations on the size of the multiple units, requirements for sidewalks and street access, and size standards for driveways and garages.

             In the case of the transect development in the county just outside current city limits, the proposal has gained remarkable support from growth watchdog and environmental groups which often oppose new development.

            The theory of the transect model is to provide a buffer from higher density development and construction on property near to public land, such as parks and forests. One example already underway on Bend west side is the Tree Farm community of 50 planned homes on more than 500 acres in Deschutes county just outside the city. The community also borders the city’s Shevlin Park and federal Forest Service land.

            With the duplex-triplex initiative, advocates say it will accomplish the state-mandated growth goal of higher density on “infill” land and lots while also creating opportunity for more affordable housing as the median price for a Bend single family homes has neared $430,000.  
The proposed code amendment.

           The proposal drew opposition from Central Oregon Land Watch which suggested other measures to create affordable housing be considered, such as increasing construction excise taxes, bonding public and private partnerships, inclusionary zoning and more protections for those renting properties.

            But some residents have expressed concern that building multi-family condos and townhomes in mostly single family neighborhoods could affect property values with increased traffic and parking pressures, as well as change the character of the communities.

            It’s uncertain how requirements in neighborhood convenants, conditions and restrictions, or CCRs, such as those limiting construction to single family homes, would mesh with a code change allowing duplexes and triplexes. One example would be Awbrey Butte, with many lots of a half acre or more and homes that generally sell at more than $600,000 with some considerably more than $1 million.

            In mid-November there were 16 vacant large lots listed for sale in Awbrey Butte, and three of more than 9,000 square feet in the nearby Awbrey Glen golf community.