Discount clothing company Ross Dress for Less is looking to open a store on Bend’s south side in the vacant half of the former Gottschalks building, planning documents filed this week with the city of Bend show.

It could become the second Ross store in Bend. The company has a store in the Cascade Village Shopping Center on Bend’s north side.

Planning documents show the new store would open in the Pioneer Crossing shopping center on Southeast Third Street and Badger Road.

However, the documents provided no timeline for opening the second Ross store.

Company officials did not respond to several requests for comment this week.

The Ross proposal comes on the heels of several other Central Oregon projects announced by national retailers.

Walgreens plans to build two pharmacies in Bend, and Rite Aid is building its second Redmond store this summer.

Ross’ new store came to light when a pair of Corvallis developers who bought Pioneer Crossing in December filed paperwork with the Bend Community Development Department outlining a plan to renovate the facades of the shopping center buildings and add some parking spaces.

One document, a project narrative filed May 29, describes a plan to “reconstruct the facade of the old 55,000 (square foot) Gottschalks department store building … for a new retail tenant Ross Dress for Less.” Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores occupies half of the Gottschalks building.

One of the Corvallis developers, Dickerhoof Properties Manager Darren Dickerhoof, declined to comment on the Ross plan when reached this week.

In December, Rich Carone, the CEO of Corvallis manufacturing company Korvis Automation, paid $5.5 million to buy Pioneer Crossing out of foreclosure, county records show. Dickerhoof bought a 50 percent stake in the center in March.

Dickerhoof said he hopes to start renovating the shopping center in late summer or early fall, giving it a face lift in time for the holiday shopping season.

“We want to make the center more attractive to tenants and shoppers,” Dickerhoof said.

Bend’s first Ross store opened in 2000, in the former Mountain View Mall, which has since been rebuilt as the Cascade Village Shopping Center, according to The Bulletin’s archives.

Reached Friday, Cascade Village Shopping Center’s marketing director, Sharon Austin, said the Ross store in the shopping center “isn’t moving. Ours is staying where it is.”

Ross has 1,091 locations in 33 states, Washington, D.C. and Guam, according to its 2012 annual financial report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

It opened 82 stores in the 2012 fiscal year, which ended Feb. 2, up from 80 stores in 2011 and 56 stores in 2010. It plans to spend $670 million in capital projects in 2013, including opening new Ross stores.