Surviving then Thriving
At the depths of the real estate collapse Bend-based
Cascade Bancorp., parent of regional Bank of the Cascades, was among many banks
on federal regulators’ watch list and required an infusion of investor capital.
But the bank now appears to have turned the corner,
recently reporting positive quarterly earnings and in mid-October announcing
the planned purchase of Idaho based Home Federal Bancorp.
Cascade Bancorp will reported pay $265 million for Home
Federal, Idaho’s largest bank, based in Nampa east of Boise. The bank has seven
branches in Central Oregon, including four in Bend, and eight others elsewhere
in Oregon as well as 11 in Idaho.
Altogether the acquisition would give Bank of the
Cascades 57 branches in Oregon and Idaho.
Tourism numbers continue a steady climb
As indicated by lodging tax returns, Bend tourism and
conference business continues on a upward path after hitting a low point in
Fiscal Year 2008-09.
For the fiscal year ending June 30 “transient room tax collections”
of $3,888,069 were 10.34% above the
comparable period of July through June 2012-13, and 32.5% higher thatn 2008-09.
Looking at the lodging tax statistics for each of the
past five fiscal years,
receipts increased every
month year to year except for October and December of FY 2011-12 and July of FY
2012-13.
For the past fiscal year in Bend, July had the largest
tax receipts of $543,438 and November the lowest at $178,469. The largest month
to month increase was in May, which rose 17.69% over the same month of FY
2011-12.
Low flow in Mirror Pond brings issues to surface
Open most tourism publications or web sites featuring
Bend and there’s a good chance you’ll discover a photo of Mirror Pond and Drake
Park--often with canoeists or kayakers and the Cascades in the distance. (take a
look at the opening photo of this blog).
In recent years the there’s been a longstanding
discussion (controversy? debate?) of how to address continuing silt build-up
that could eventually turn this slackwater “pond” on the Deschutes River into a
wetland.
Special committees have been formed. editorials written,
polls taken. But by Fall of 2013 there’s
been no firm direction as to whether to dredge again to keep the pond, create a
more free flowing stream or some combination that would create a shoreline
wetland.
Another factor has been the small Pacific Power
hydroelectric dam just north of the Newport Avenue bridge. The big utility
concedes the power output is minimal but has not indicated if it will remove
the dam, although the company is meeting with local officials.
Complicating matters this Fall there has been
a major leak that resulted in offering Bend a muddy view of what Mirror Pond
would look like without the dam. The
only agreement by everyone seems to be less talk and more action.
COCC to build dorm on campus site
Much of the buzz about Oregon State University’s
transition to a full 4-year OSU-Cascades branch on a planned 56 acre site has
overshadowed it’s current facility partner Central Oregon Community College.
Now COCC has announced plans for a new 330-room, dorm that
would be built in a three-wind terraced configuration on the college’s current southwest
corner along Mt. Washington Drive.
The college has chosen a construction manager-general contractor approach to better define final costs, estimated to be in the range of $16-$16.4 million. The dorm is expected to be ready for occupancy of the 10 communities of 33 students each by the summer of 2015.
The college has chosen a construction manager-general contractor approach to better define final costs, estimated to be in the range of $16-$16.4 million. The dorm is expected to be ready for occupancy of the 10 communities of 33 students each by the summer of 2015.
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