The former Skjersaa building at 130 SW Century Drive is being renovated into three retail spaces that will be for lease once completed. (Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin photo)

The new owner of the former Skjersaa’s ski shop property in Bend is renovating the building to make room for three new retailers.

Contractors are turning the building at 130 SW Century Drive into three suites, two sized at 1,200 square feet and one at 1,800 square feet. The property sold in February for $1.1 million, $400,00 less than the list price. The new owner, Tumalo River Real Estate LLC, looks forward to capitalizing on long-range Bend city planning that created an opportunity area for commercial development along SW Century Drive between Mt. Washington Drive and SW Commerce Avenue, said the leasing broker, Brian Fratzke, of Bend.

“It’s five blocks from OSU-Cascades, right on Century,” he said. Plus, zoning changes that accompanied expansion of the Bend urban growth boundary allow mixed uses, higher density and taller buildings along that corridor, said Nick Arnis, Bend city growth management director. Also, the Central Westside Plan, guidelines not yet formally adopted by the city, calls for improving Century Drive to include a bike lane and sidewalk, which would reduce parking in front of the building.

That means the owner may eventually remove the existing two-story building and erect a three-story structure with a deeper setback, Fratzke said. The principal owner of Tumalo River Real Estate through Fratzke declined to comment.

The likelihood of future improvements doesn’t preclude existing tenants moving into a new building on the same site; “we’re talking to people and we’re disclosing that this is probably a 10-year deal,” Fratzke said.

The Skjersaa family opened the first ski shop in Bend in the 1930s; Terry and Judy Skjersaa moved the shop to 130 SW Century in 1965 and retired in 1996, according to The Bulletin archives. The 6,240-square-foot building was home to Skjersaa’s Sport Shop until October 2015, when the business owners, Jeremy and Shannon Casgar-Nelson, moved it south to 345 SW Century Drive.

The upgrades underway at the former ski shop, which also housed a lacrosse sports shop, include reducing the first floor to street level, making the building compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and installing a new, central heating system.

Until the improvements are complete, “the fireplace is the central heating system,” Fratzke said.

Two second-floor apartments that rented month-to-month were improved and turned into vacation rentals earlier this year, he said.

Two people have expressed interest in the property, but Fratzke said the building may not be ready to occupy before April. The spaces will not accommodate restaurants due to the lack of necessary parking.

The suites are advertised for lease at $2 per square foot, higher by 25 to 40 cents than rates real estate brokers said a similar property in the area would lease for a year ago.

“We’ll be handing the suites over in vanilla-shell condition,” Fratzke said, “I’m confident I’ll get $2 a (square) foot on Century Drive.”

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