A whopping Bend transaction shows region’s
attraction
Yet
another sign of the growing economic profile of Bend and Central Oregon was
visible in August with closing of one of the region’s most expensive real
estate transactions.
Seattle
based Security Properties, a leading national apartment owner-manager, paid $45
million for the 228-unit Farmington Reserve apartments on Aaron Way, a project
developed by Portland-based BPM Real Estae Group.
Security
Properties, a nearly 50-year-old company, owns or manages more than 80,000
multi-family units with a portolio value of $5.7 million, according to the
company’s website.
The
Bend acquisition valuing each of Farmington Reserve’s 228 units at $197,368 compares
with Security’s recent purchase of a 248 unit complex in Lacey, WA for $54
million, or $217,741 per unit and another 162 unit project in Bremerton, WA for
$182,098 per unit.
Security’s
strategy is to invest in existing apartments, rather than develop new ones for
its investment portfolio. The company in early September was advertising for a
property manager to oversee the Farmington Reserve complex.
Bend moves to reconcile zoning with
comprehensive plan
How
does, and how will, Bend grow?
On
the one hand there is the city’s comprehensive plan. On the other is zoning.
And the two often don’t mesh as theoretically they should.
Now
the city is taking steps to reconcile both, all the more important now that a
decade-long process has resulted in an urban growth bounday plan blessed by the
state.
There
is an estimated more than 2,500 acres inside the city where the comp plan and
zoning contradict. Rezoning some of the area could open a path for higher
density and mixed-use developments in some areas where zoning is more
restrictive.
In
a late August vote related to the land use realignment the city planning
commission recommended changes to the city council which must eventually make
the final decision.
If approved the new policy and plan
could eliminate a costly $6,000 fee to rezone property and shorten the time
involved in the application process.
How to address housing affordability in
Central Oregon?
What
is at times called a crisis in available housing to match employment income
patterns in Central Oregon is highlighted in a new survey of regional consortium of governent, development,
employment and other interests.
Of
nearly 800 respondents the survey reports more than 80% recognized housing
affordability as a ”serious” problem. The number jumps to 94% when that sample
is added to those who agree it’s a “somewhat serioius” challenge.
Developers
surveyed generally responded that more incentives in the form of bonuses for
density and relaxed building height requirements could result on more affordable
housing.
Of
92 employers in the survey, 64% said housing was a serious problem for acquiring
and maintaining employees. Surprisingly, 74% said they would support public
housing efforts and 19% that they might consider the potential for employer-financed
housing projects.
In
Jackson, WY – a mecca for tourism based businesses in the Rockies--the idea of
employer-financed housing has taken shape with a requirement that new businesses
occupying new commecial construction contribute to building housing units in a
ratio to their number of employees.
Read
the full housing survey here: https://coic2.org/needs-assessment/
From prison to a hedge fund sale
A Bend man who served time in federal prison and paid
more than $6 million in fines for conspiracy and export violations in sale of
aircraft to Libya has sold 100 acres of his Deschutes River frontage property
to a hedge fund manager for $4 million.
The transaction involves 100 acres the sellers, Edward
Elkins and wife Dee, sold to Scott and Carol Ann Smallwood of Virginia.
Smallwood was formerly with hedge fund PDT Partners but now heads Periwinkle
Trading.
The 100 acres is now zoned to allow 10-acre building
sites and is part of approximately 700 acres often known as Gopher Gulch that
Bend developer Brooks Resources had planned for a community of more than 2,000
homes in the early to mid-2000s.
Brooks
abandoned the plan but later sold 140 acres that became Pacific Cascade Heights
subdivision. Bend Parks and Recreation purchased approximately 150 acres for
the Riley Ranch Nature Reserve.
After
the sale to the Smallwoods the Elkins retain slightly more than 300 acres which
could be divided into smaller parcels according to brokers familiar with the
property.
State DOT backtracks on Bend “drinking
culture”
The
state Department of Transportation had second thoughts after implying that Bend’s
well-known reputation for micro-breweries creates a “drinking culture” that
contributes to hazardous driving conditions.
An
early draft of DOT’s 2019 Oregon Transportation Safety Performance Plan observed,
“Bend, the only metro area in (Central
Oregon) has the bragging rights for the most breweries in the state and is actively
marketed around the country for its ‘Ale Trail’.....This culture of drinking,
combined with the increased dangers of recreational driving, increases the
dangers on the road.”
With
quick reaction, including from outgoing Deschutes County Commissioner Tammy
Baney who chairs on the state Transportation Commission, state officials
offered an apology, explaining that, “...the original language as the intent of
the message was not clear and could have been more specific to the concerns
around impaired driving for the entire Region.”
