In the next couple of weeks, a developer expects to begin construction on a new Grocery Outlet in Madras, giving a growing city another choice for grocery shopping.

The 18,700-square-foot store is slated for 1575 U.S. Highway 97 in Madras, next to the Bi-Mart within an existing shopping center. Nick Snead, community development director for the city of Madras, said the store will be the first grocer on the south end of the city.

“I think we’re due for another grocery store,” Snead said Thursday.

Matt Dickerhoof, co-owner of Dickerhoof Properties and general contractor on the project, said the building will be the Corvallis-based company’s first in Madras. However, the company has worked on around a dozen commercial projects in Central Oregon, including the Market of Choice store in Bend, which opened in June. Dickerhoof Properties is currently building a Grocery Outlet store in La Pine, which the company expects to be open by early 2017.

A decade ago, Dickerhoof said, his company developed and built a Grocery Outlet next to a Bi-Mart in Prineville, and saw good results there. Dickerhoof attempted to develop the lot in Madras around five years ago, he added.

Snead said cities and towns attempt to maintain a ratio of one grocery store for around 4,000 households. Currently, Madras, with a population of 7,484 in 2015, has two full-service grocers: a Safeway on the north end of the city, and an Eriksons Thriftway near downtown.

However, Snead added that Madras grocery stores also serve Metolius, Culver and unincorporated parts of Jefferson County, each of which lacks a large grocer. In 2015, Jefferson County had a total population of 22,806, according to estimates from the Population Research Center at Portland State University.

“When you compare us to Deschutes County, to Bend to Redmond, we’re going to have a lower annual growth rate,” Snead said. “But comparatively speaking, we’re seeing rapid growth.”

Additionally, Snead said the city has plans to expand toward the south in the future. He pointed to a 50-acre parcel on the west side of Highway 97, across from Bi-Mart, that could be home to future commercial developments. However, he added that the city needs to build more roads in the area to make it attractive to developers.

According to plans filed with the city of Madras, the new Grocery Outlet store is slated to be built on a 122-square-foot lot, though Dickerhoof said there are no plans for additional development on the property at this point.

— Reporter: 541-617-7818, shamway@bendbulletin.com