Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., the popular restaurant chain known for its conscientious approach to food, is making tentative plans for a location in Bend, according to filings with the city Community Development Department.

A spokesman for the Denver-based company, Chris Arnold, in an email Friday stated that Chipotle does not comment “on plans for individual restaurants or cities beyond what we have under lease and where construction is scheduled.”

“At this time, I don’t see anything in Bend that meets those criteria,” Arnold wrote.

However, an Omaha, Nebraska, architectural firm is designing a space for Chipotle in a new building at 505 NE Third St., adjacent to the new Walgreen’s at Franklin Avenue and Third Street, according to a document filed with the city Tuesday. The firm, FHA Architects, designed a 2,200-square-foot restaurant with seating for 94 people indoors and outdoors. FHA Architects on its website lists Chipotle as one of its clients.

A San Francisco-based investment firm, Third & Franklin LLC, bought the property in August 2013 for $2.8 million. The property owner could not be reached Friday for comment on the status of any lease agreement it has with the restaurant chain.

The 8,000-square-foot, one-story building will also house a Jersey Mike’s Subs restaurant. Fortney Contractors LLC, of Portland, was the general contractor on the building project, valued at $700,000, according to a city building permit issued in December.

Chipotle, founded in 1993, operates 1,755 restaurants throughout the U.S., as well as seven in Canada, six in England, three in France and one in Germany, according to a company filing with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Chipotle’s restaurant closest to Bend is in Eugene. The chain also has locations in Salem, Corvallis, Medford and the Portland area, according to its website.

“We have grown substantially over the past five years, and expect to open between 190 and 205 additional restaurants in 2015, including a small number of ShopHouse (Southeast Asian Kitchen) and Pizzeria Locale restaurants,” the company stated in its annual report. ShopHouse and Pizzeria Locale are two smaller restaurant chains the company owns.

“In all of our restaurants, we endeavor to serve only meats that were raised without the use of non-therapeutic antibiotics or added hormones, and in accordance with criteria we’ve established in an effort to improve sustainability and promote animal welfare,” the company stated in its report.

However, the annual report stated, an insufficient supply of appropriately raised pork, beef and chicken means Chipotle sometimes does without certain menu items or serves conventionally raised meats, instead.

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