At the heart of revitalization

REDMOND — Hillsboro-based Parr Lumber Co. has bought land just west of Redmond’s city limits and will move from its central downtown location, potentially opening up what could be a critical area for redevelopment in the heart of town, city leaders and company officials said Wednesday.

When the company will move and what will happen to its 2-acre property at the corner of Evergreen Avenue and Fifth Street when it leaves are still unanswered questions, said Brad Farmer, Parr property manager, who acknowledged the company’s plans to leave downtown after the new property is brought into city limits.

If Parr chooses to sell or redevelop the property, it would free up a chunk of land in what will become an anchor between the core of downtown and the U.S. Highway 97 reroute once it’s completed in November.

“It’s probably the most significant redevelopment area of downtown because it encompasses several city blocks and is under single ownership,” said Nick Lelack, the city of Redmond’s planning manager. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for redevelopment and overall downtown revitalization in the downtown area.”

Parr could either redevelop the site itself or sell the site to developers, company officials said. The process, which includes annexation of the new property purchased just outside of city limits, could take months.

Potentially, the downtown land could be redeveloped into a city-owned park or arts and entertainment district, according to a redevelopment plan for an 11-block area of downtown that was created last spring by Portland-based SERA Architects Inc. Parr is on the eastern edge of the SERA plan area.

The city would need to expand its funding for urban renewal projects if it were to buy a portion of the Parr property for a park, Lelack said. Plans are in the works to expand the $27 million urban renewal district, which has already allocated most of the $8.5 million in remaining funds toward a new Civic Center district and improvements to Fifth and Sixth streets, Lelack said.

The rest of the Parr site could be developed by the private sector, Lelack said.

“The timing could work out nicely,” he said. “If Parr is moving in the near term, we could think about what role the Parr site would play as we extend our urban renewal plan.”

City leaders have been looking for ways to revitalize downtown for several years and stressed the need to start before the reroute project is completed. The reroute will take significant traffic off of Fifth and Sixth streets through downtown, which city officials believe will make the city center more attractive for visitors and businesses.

Residents, meanwhile, have clamored for more parks, and arts and entertainment options.

Parr’s move would signal a shift in uses of downtown away from Redmond’s industrial past toward a more urbanized cultural center, said Jean Wood, owner of the adjacent Evergreen Studios, a gallery and work space for artists.

Parr purchased the site for $1.3 million from Portland-based Copeland Lumber Yards Inc. in 1999, according to Deschutes County property records.

Wood had formed plans as recently as 2004 to develop a four-block area of the Parr site into a movie theater, retail, office and residential site, she said. The plans never advanced, but she still thinks the site would be attractive for a theater.

“It’s a great redevelopment site,” Wood said. “Relocating the lumberyards was a big challenge. There are so many variables and Parr may want to redevelop the site themselves. It may take awhile.”

Parr purchased its new 10-acre property just west of Bonneville Power Administration’s substation from Brad Evert and Brian Groza, co-owners of the New Redmond Hotel in downtown Redmond, on Jan. 10, according to Deschutes County property records. Terms were not available.

The parcel is located in what will become a new commercial area near the state Highway 126-Helmholtz Way intersection, according to city leaders and real estate officials who are master-planning the 140-acre area that is expected to be brought into city limits.

Parr’s Farmer said the decision on when to move will be based on market conditions and how quickly the annexation process can be completed, he said.

But moving out of downtown to a larger space will serve the company’s long-term interests, he said.

“We’ve realized the downtown facility will become more and more of a nonconforming use as the years go by,” Farmer said. “We’ve been communicating with the city for the last three years and looking for solutions.”

The property will give the company more space to grow and free it up from downtown congestion, said Jerry Wheeler, Parr’s yard manager in Redmond.

“The downtown area is expensive to operate and limited in opportunity for expansion at our current space,” Wheeler said. “The property is separated into three separate yards, which means trucks are constantly moving across city streets.”