Construction on the site of the new Bend Costco, which will be located off U.S. Highway 20 between Cooley Road and Robal Lane, is underway and company officials say the store will hire additional Bend staff when it opens in late August.

“As you know we are fully engaged on site, and we’ve got blasting and grading activities going on,” said John Ellingsen, director of international development for Costco at a meeting of the Boyd Acres Neighborhood Association in February. “We do expect our building to go vertical on May 4 … and we are currently on schedule for an end of August opening.”

Residents and motorists should expect construction Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with grading between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Blasting will be completed by April.

Cooley Road, which has been closed as a result of construction, is expected to reopen sometime in July, and Ellingsen said Robal Lane will intermittently experience single-lane closures but never a total closure.

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Plans for closing the old Costco in tandem with opening the north-side Costco are still moving forward, and Ellingsen said the corporation has plans to sell the building once it is vacated. He also confirmed that no layoffs are planned and that current employees will be given the chance to transfer to the new Costco location.

“Then we will be adding new positions to the store as well,” he said.

Once construction is complete, it will take 20 days to stock and prepare the store, Ellingsen said. Residents can also expect a Costco gas station, a Costco car wash and a new road that extends from Robal Lane to Cooley Road called Costco Drive.

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But the new development won’t just have Costco services. Powell Development has retained three parcels adjacent to Highway 20 for other tenants. Ellingsen could not confirm what tenants will occupy the parcels, but said Powell Development has entered talks with three businesses.

Although Costco’s original proposal included multifamily housing in the new development, this part of the complex is currently on hold after the developer for that component pulled out of the project. But Ellingsen said Costco is still hopeful another developer will be interested in the future.

Ellingsen provided the above information to the public on Feb. 29, but the new Bend Costco has not yet been posted on the company’s list of new locations coming soon. Costco declined to comment further until it posts the new location on that website.