It’s official: a new Costco will come to Bend’s north side after the city approved plans for a 185,000-square-foot store, a gas station and a car wash Monday.

The new Costco is a part of the Gateway North development, which will sit on 52 acres bordering U.S. Highway 20, Robal Lane and Cooley Road. The city’s decision Monday officially solidified Costco Warehouse Corp.’s commitment to building a new location in Bend.

Construction could begin as early as this fall, said Aaron Henson, a senior planner for the city of Bend.

However, the housing developments, which were initially intended to be built side by side with the Costco, have been stalled due to lack of funding.

Initial project proposals for Gateway North included market rate multifamily apartments, affordable senior housing, retail stores and restaurants alongside Costco. However, Henson said the developer’s funding had unexpectedly fallen through.

“Because the housing application was withdrawn, that sort of threw a monkey wrench in things because we expected it would be developed simultaneously,” Henson said. “We’re hopeful they will find another developer.”

The developer, Powell Development Co., is actively marketing the part of the property where much-needed housing could be built, Henson said.

Both Costco and Powell Development declined to comment for this story.

The development has been in the works for around a decade, but it didn’t escalate until 2022, when Powell Development Co. had to earn the approval of the Bend City Council.

In November, Costco threatened to pull out of the deal over a disagreement with councilors over additional parking.

Councilors were concerned with swapping open space for pavement.

“I think we have to think of generations to come with every land use decision we make,” Councilor Anthony Broadman said at a Nov. 2, 2022, meeting.

After some compromise, which included adding more bicycle parking, saving more trees and installing electrical-vehicle charging to mitigate the extra parking spaces, the City Council unanimously approved the development in December.

The new store, gas station and car wash will replace the existing Bend warehouse near Highway 20 and NE 27th Street. Costco, which announced Wednesday it would be cracking down on membership sharing, has been trying out the concept of $7.99 car washes in just five other states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Tennessee and Washington. The one slated for Bend could be unique in Oregon.

Costco stores can typically be constructed quickly — around nine months — but, all the while, the project has to work around road construction and canal piping, according to Henson.

Powell Development Co. contributed $5.5 million to the creation of two roundabouts on Highway 20 at Cooley Road and Robal Lane. Those projects are currently underway.

Editor’s note: This article has been corrected. The original version misstated the size of the store. The Bulletin regrets the error.