Redmond sees new industrial park plans

Edge Development Group LLC submitted plans Tuesday for what Redmond city officials said would become one of the city’s larger industrial parks.

The Bend-based developer – which purchased the 61-acre property east of the railroad tracks and south of Veterans Way for $7 million in August – would like to start construction early next year on Topaz Business Park. The industrial park would have 28 industrial lots and cost $15 million to build.

The industrial park, which currently sits vacant except for dilapidated livestock feed racks and old fencing, would potentially connect the city’s west side with Redmond Airport via an extension of Quartz Avenue. The lots would range in size from 1 acre to 4 acres and would occupy a central location between the city and the airport, said Deborah McMahon, a consultant for Edge Development.

Negotiations are under way to attract an airport hotel, a major grocery distributor and a manufacturing company to the park, which would be zoned for light industrial use, McMahon said.

”We think we’ve hit it here,” she said. ”This will be close to excellent housing and recreational choices for people interested to live and work in Redmond.”

Cheaper industrial land also has sparked interest in Redmond, said Brian Fratzke, a broker with Lowes Commercial Properties.

In Bend, ready-to-build industrial land ranging between .5 acres and 3 acres would cost between $11.50 and $15 per square foot, he said.

In Redmond, the same land would cost between $6 and $8.50, according to Fratzke.

Topaz Business Park could woo more prospective businesses to Redmond, said Bud Prince, manager of Redmond Economic Development.

”Anything of this magnitude sends a large signal that we’re open for business and there’s an opportunity to site your plant in Redmond,” he said. ”Sixty acres is significant for me to be able to identify the fact that we have a lot of industrial land available.”

Prince said the pace of com-panies seeking to relocate to Redmond has slowed compared to last year, but the interest has remained healthy and stable.

The city has sold two parcels of industrial land in its Desert Rise Industrial Park but still has 73 acres available, Prince said.

Additionally, private developers have four or five 10- to 15-acre parcels on the market for light and heavy industrial development, he said.

In northeast Redmond, the Pioneer Industrial Park has sold four of 19 industrial lots, said Fratzke, of Lowes Commercial Properties.

He has received an average of six calls per week inquiring about the 39-acre property, he said.

”There’s plenty of demand on this park, which is refreshing to see in a market where supposedly the sky is falling,” Fratzke said.

The range of choices will give businesses a choice in Redmond, Fratzke said.

Most of the lots at Pioneer Industrial Park are smaller than those planned at Topaz Business Park and are suited to smaller businesses, Fratzke said.

”The area will grow in terms of industrial development,” McMahon said. ”The project will be a redevelopment of older parcels into a very strong industrial site. There’s a variety of businesses that can go into this area.”

Edge Development’s other projects include Longhorn Ridge, a 2,000-acre six-phase residential project under way in Crook County, and The Towers at Ridgepointe, a 49-unit luxury condominium project in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

The developer would like to break ground in the spring and have lots completed by summer, McMahon said.