Developers jump on rezoning opportunity

Two industrial property owners in the Shevlin Corporate Park area are the first to jump on a rezoning opportunity created by Bend’s new urban growth boundary.

The California-based owner of two vacant parcels on SW Emkay Drive filed an application Jan. 5 to rezone 3.9 acres from light industrial to mixed urban use.

And a Bend-based developer, Jordan Skovborg, applied Jan. 9 to rezone 2.8 acres at SW Simpson Avenue and Columbia Street, also from light industrial to mixed urban.

The two applications are the first in the city to seek rezoning to “mixed urban,” a designation that allows an array of uses, from residential to employment center.

It also allows for taller building heights, since Bend’s new urban growth boundary was finally approved last month, said Colin Stephens, manager of the city planning division.

“There’s been a lot of pent-up desire to develop this area with uses that weren’t allowed until Dec. 6,” Stephens said. The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development accepted Bend’s new urban growth boundary in November, and the deadline to appeal was Dec. 5.

The rezoning requests are just the first step in the transformation contemplated under the city’s comprehensive plan. Shevlin Corporate Park is part of the Central West Side/Century Drive “opportunity area,” where the city hopes to reduce vehicular traffic by encouraging a mix of residences, employment centers and service businesses.

The two vacant parcels at 936 and 954 SW Emkay Drive will be more valuable with a mixed urban zoning designation, said Bruce Churchill, principal broker at Fratzke Commercial Real Estate, who represents the property owner, Charles A. Bonnett of Fountain Valley, California. The vacant land, priced at about $5.2 million, has been on the market for about 18 months already and seen interest from residential and mixed-use developers, Churchill said.

Buildings that stand on the land Skovborg seeks to rezone are primarily occupied by Rebound Physical Therapy and BBT Architects Inc. One parcel at the southeast corner of Simpson and Columbia is still vacant.

Skovborg, who is also a partner in CS Construction, plans to build a 21,500-square-foot medical office building with Desert Orthopedics as the main tenant.

While he’s seeking the rezoning in order to align with the city’s comprehensive plan, Skovborg said his development plan hasn’t changed. He always intended to build a two-story medical office building. The mixed-urban designation allows taller buildings — up to 75 feet if residences are included — but that’s not possible without space for adequate parking, Skovborg said.

The historically industrial Shevlin-Hixon area has evolved into more of an office and research park, Skovborg said. With the possibility for mixed-urban zoning, Skovborg said developers will probably shift toward medical and other service-business tenants.

—Reporter: 541-617-7860, 
kmclaughlin@bendbulletin.com