Apartment complex slated for Bend

Published 12:00 am Thursday, May 21, 2015

A Eugene developer expects to break ground in August on a 153-unit apartment complex on NE Bellevue Drive, next to Worthy Brewing Co., in Bend.

“We’re hoping to have occupancy by June 2016,” said Dan Neal, of Paradigm Properties, whose projects include student apartment complexes near the University of Oregon. The Bellevue Drive Apartments will be the company’s first foray into Bend, although Neal said he has ties to Bend, including a home here.

“We’re excited about this project,” he said Tuesday. “We know the city of Bend is in serious need of new housing stock, so it would seem the timing of this project would be beneficial to the community.”

A survey of rental properties released by the Central Oregon Rental Owners Association in April showed a 1.5 percent vacancy rate across Central Oregon and for apartment buildings in Bend between 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent. The survey found a 2.4 percent vacancy rate for homes available for lease, and 0.8 percent for duplexes in Bend.

Real estate broker Ron Ross, of Compass Commercial Real Estate Services, in Bend, has tracked rental vacancy rates and rents over several years. The 1.5 percent rate this year is statistically no different than the 1.04 percent vacancy rate from the 2014 survey, he said.

“I don’t read much into that,” he said Wednesday.

However, rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Bend, a number Ross said he’s tracked for 25 years, has increased by 10 percent since last year. Over 25 years, however, Ross measured the average annual rate of increase in rent for that same apartment at 2.17 percent.

“What my rent chart showed was that rents were very modest for 23 years, very modest,” he said, “among the lowest in the state.”

The average rent now for a two-bedroom apartment in Bend, depending on the size of the apartment complex, ranges from $791 to $847 per month, according to the rental owners’ survey. Average rent for a three-bedroom home is $1,354, the survey found.

“In 2012, rents took a steep upward rise and continue to do that,” Ross said. “They’re still at a rate that doesn’t justify new construction, and that’s why we don’t see new construction.”

That’s changing. The Bellevue Drive Apartments is among three apartment projects either under construction or recently filed for review in Bend. Neal said designing an apartment complex that creates a decent environment for tenants in Bend while making a return on investment is challenging.

“We are hoping to make careful decisions involving value and engineering so that we can control our costs as much as possible while still creating a first-class living environment for our tenants,” he said.

Plans filed with the city show four three-story apartment buildings and a clubhouse. Neal said the complex of one- and two-bedroom apartments will also have basketball courts. The complex will have more parking than required by city code, he said. The builder is CS Construction LLC, of Bend; the architect is BLRB architects, also of Bend.

“I would say that’s very, very welcome in this community,” Ross said. “It’s what we need. It won’t solve all (the rental shortage), but it’s very welcome.”

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