A developer has filed preliminary plans with the city of Bend to build a 136-unit apartment complex on Empire Avenue in northeast Bend.

Chet Antonsen, owner of MonteVista Homes, based in Clackamas, said the complex will feature executive-style apartments with upgraded features such as granite countertops and options for tile and hardwood floors. The target market is empty nesters and active adults, he said.

“I don’t believe there’s any product like it in Bend,” Antonsen said Friday.

Plans call for five buildings of three or four stories each with elevators and secure entrances, he said. A clubhouse is part of the plan. If approved, each unit will be about 1,200 square feet.

“We’re looking at a little bit higher end,” Antonsen said.

MonteVista submitted its preliminary site plan for the project on Dec. 2 as PacWest II LLC. The empty 5.5-acre site runs along the north side of Empire Avenue, east of Peale Street. High Desert Lane could be extended north across the eastern edge of the PacWest property.

Other MonteVista projects in Bend include Sundance Meadows, a 43-lot subdivision at 27th Street and Bear Creek Road. The company expects to break ground in January on Rock Ridge Park, 8.3 acres in northeast Bend where the company plans 34 single-family homes, said Luke Pickerill, MonteVista marketing director.

Antonsen, who has no timeline yet for the project, is scheduled to meet Thursday with city planning staff to discuss plans for the 5.5-acre site, such as availability of water and sewer service and whether a conditional use is possible. The area is zoned for professional offices, according to the online city zoning map.

“Multi-family is a conditional use, so we’d have to get a conditional-use approval,” Antonsen said Friday. “I don’t know the staff’s views on that.”

Rental housing is at a premium in the city, where a survey early in the year showed less than 1 percent availability.

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com