A Kirkland, Washington, firm has plans to develop 51 acres on Bend’s north side with a Fred Meyer store, a hotel, senior housing and other projects, according to a filing with the city of Bend.

An open house to explain the project to area residents is scheduled 6 p.m. Monday at the North Fire Station, 63377 NE Jamison St., Bend.

A representative of the firm, Powell Development Co., did not return a message seeking further comment. Its preliminary application with the Bend Community Development Department calls for multifamily housing, general commercial, retail and hotel development on the site along U.S. Highway 20 between Cooley Road and Robal Lane, north of the Cascade Village Shopping Center.

A meeting notice sent to Boyd Acres Neighborhood Association members states the project includes a Fred Meyer store.

According to its website, Powell Development is a preferred developer for Fred Meyer, Walgreens, Chase Bank, Lowe’s, Costco and other firms. It has developed 60 projects in the Northwest since 1989.

Fred Meyer already has a store on the south side of Bend. Whether the company plans the proposed store to be its second in Bend could not be determined. Messages left Thursday and Friday with Fred Meyer and its corporate owner, Kroger, were not returned.

Jim Beauchemin, land use chairman for the property owners association, said Powell Development first aired its proposal in January 2015. About 25 people turned out, most of whom favored the plan after the presentation, he said.

“At that time, they were just unveiling the concept,” Beauchemin said. “After their presentation, there were quite a few questions about facets of the plan and details about water and sewer.”

Eric Adams, a land use planner with McKenzie, a land use, transportation and architectural firm in Portland, said a formal land use application should be ready to submit to the city in March. McKenzie is providing design and land use planning for the project, he said.

“One of the more critical components is getting an additional collector street extended into the project from (U.S.) Highway 20, and that will be part of our proposal in the land use application,” Adams said.

The proposal requires approval from the Bend Planning Commission and, eventually, the City Council. Obtaining the approvals usually takes about four months, said Craig Chenoweth, Bend community development services coordinator. The project would also require a zone change and an amendment to the city transportation system plan.

“This is one of the bigger retail and commercial projects that we’ve seen,” he said.

In 2011, an Idaho firm, White-Leasure Development Co., discussed with the city a commercial project called Promenade @ Bend on the same site.

However, the potential for traffic congestion figured in an earlier development plan, proposed in 2005, for the Cooley Road corridor. That proposal, to build a Wal-Mart on the north side of Cooley Road at U.S. Highway 97, likewise was not built. The Oregon Department of Transportation had concerns about the amount of traffic and congestion it would have generated, said Region 4 spokesman Peter Murphy.

The Powell Development proposal would be built along Highway 20. ODOT has the same concerns, but comparing the two is equivalent to comparing apples and oranges, he said.

“We are in the process of working with the developer to get more info at this point,” Murphy said. “We always want to know what the traffic impact is going to be and how it’s going to impact our highway.”

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