After an auction to sell land in Sisters failed to draw any bids this summer, the U.S. Forest Service has decided that it probably won’t try selling the 62-acre parcel on the western entrance to town until the real estate market picks up.

The agency hoped to get at least $14 million for the land, which it planned to use to build two new Forest Service facilities in Central Oregon. Now, without the money from the land sale, the agency can’t start building a planned new facility on Bend’s east side to house the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District and Deschutes National Forest headquarters.

But it’s taking a look at different options that would allow plans to build a new Sisters Ranger District office to go ahead, said Bill Anthony, Sisters district ranger.

“Another possibility that has emerged is with the new administration’s economic stimulus package,” he said. “The administration has asked for all kinds of projects at the city, county, state and federal level (that are) shovel-ready.”

And the Sisters building is shovel-ready, with the design in place, he said. And it’s an energy-efficient, environmentally friendly building, which also makes it a candidate for potential economic stimulus funds, depending on what passes Congress. So the Forest Service has submitted it as a potential candidate, he said.

But, Anthony added, there are many public works projects competing for any funds that might make it into an economic stimulus bill, and so there’s no guarantee for those funds.

The new Sisters facilities would be on Forest Service land adjacent to the property for sale, and the area for sale includes the site of the current ranger district office.

The Sisters district is also considering different options that might make the 62-acre parcel easier to sell, Anthony said. That could include breaking it up into multiple lots or marketing it differently, but no decisions have been made, he said.

But without the stimulus help, the Forest Service would need to raise at least $14 million from the sale of the land to build both the Sisters and the Bend facilities, and it could take awhile before the real estate market turns around and buyers are interested.

So the agency is planning on waiting awhile before holding another auction, said John Allen, Deschutes National Forest supervisor.

“It really depends on the state of the economy,” Allen said. “Until the real estate market bounces back again to some degree, we probably won’t put that property up for auction.”

When it is sold, however, buyers of the Sisters property will be able to work with the city on what could be built on the site. Last week, the city of Sisters agreed that it would consider changing the current zone that restricts construction to public facilities, said Eileen Stein, city manager.

But until the property is sold, the agency won’t go forward with a new building on the old Bend Pine Nursery site that would house the Bend-Fort Rock District and Deschutes National Forest headquarters, he said. Instead, the Forest Service will continue to lease office space for about $1 million a year for at least the next several years.

“We’re disappointed we’re not going ahead and breaking ground, because we’d like to get out of the leases we have to pay on an annual basis,” Allen said.