January 16, 2005
Old Mill Goes Urban
By Cathy Carroll
The Bulletin
The first phase of a $20 million project mixing urban brownstone-style row houses with rooftop gardens and commercial space is slated to built by this fall, linking downtown Bend to the Old Mill District, developers for the project said.
Portland's chic, redeveloped Pearl District and lower downtown Denver inspired the plan for Mill Quarter, according to Aaron Lafky, president of Mill Quarter Properties.
Plans include about 40,000-square-feet of commercial, office and residential space on 12 acres from Industrial Way to Colorado Avenue. Some of the proposed 25 brick and steel row houses would have street-level offices with living quarters above them.
City planning staff approved changes to the first phase of the plan for about 32,000-square-feet of commercial and residential development between Wall and Bond streets on Industrial Way earlier this month.
On Thursday, Lafky submitted plans for city planning commission approval for the second phase on Arizona Avenue between Wall and Bond streets.
"There is nothing like this here," Lafky said Thursday. "These are not suburban townhouses. They are very urban, with brick, concrete and steel."
The residences will have rooftop gardens and be priced from about $350,000 to $700,000. They will be marketed to buyers who aren't interested in doing much home maintenance, Lafky said. The location, four blocks from McMenamins Old St. Francis School and near the Les Schwab Amphitheater, the Deschutes River and the Mount Bachelor park and ride is ideal, he added.
Mill Quarter partner Drew Child said, "The real attraction is to live in the heart of Bend and walk to all these places. People get here and they want to park it and that's really supporting this healthy lifestyle and low-maintenance capabilities that let you get out and play. It's the new cabin in the woods."
Paula Mason, associate planner for the city of Bend, said plans for the first phase along Industrial Way was a hit with the city planning commission.
"They loved it," she said. "It's a beautiful design and they liked the innovation. They were intrigued with the materials being used for the facade, that the parking would be put on the site, and that it would interconnect so pedestrians could walk through downtown to the river area and that whole lower section including the Old Mill."
The commission also liked that the units that combine living and work space means the buyers could eliminate commuting to work, she added.
The first 12 of 25 proposed row houses in the Industrial Way phase would include two commercial spaces with lofts above them. Lafky plans to start construction in May and have them completed by August or September.
This spring Lafky also plans to begin construction of a coffee shop, roasting facility and drive-through for Strictly Organic Coffee on the corner of Arizona Avenue and Bond Street.
The city planning commission is reviewing plans for the project he hopes to have built by August.
Lafky said he wanted to have a coffee shop in the Mill Quarter
but wanted a local company instead of Starbucks.
On Thursday, Lafky submitted plans to the city for the second Arizona Avenue phase proposed for property between Wall and Bond streets where a former mill building stands.
He wants to begin construction there in September and have it completed in the spring of 2006.
Lafky said he will salvage the brick and wood from the roughly 27,000-square-foot "planer building" where mill workers planed lumber into finished boards. He said he had to take apart the existing brick walls because the structure would not allow him to create the parking that the city requires. He said he will reuse the materials in the construction.
The Arizona Avenue phase includes two 2,120-square-foot commercial spaces with two 1,000-square-foot lofts above each store. It will include four 2,188-square-foot "live/work" units; two 2,460-square-foot "live/work" units; and seven 3,000-square-foot row houses with rooftops gardens.
They will also be priced from about $350,000 to $700,000.
Lafky said he has been getting inquiries about the project from people across the country although he hasn't begun to market it except for creating a Web site, www.millqtr.com.
"We're not totally ready for getting inquiries," Lafky said. "I don't know how people are getting (to the Web site). They're probably searching 'Bend real estate.'"
Lafky and partners Drew Child and Steve Gerlicher plan to start marketing the properties with Sunriver Realty in April.
Following that, Lafky said they will proceed with developing property on Industrial Way west of Wall Street. He wants to see how the market accepts the Industrial Way phase first.
"This is a different animal," he said. "It's not a suburban townhouse. It's very urban."
Angela Dreher of Bend, who is searching for space for her realty company, said Mill Quarter might be the solution for small business owners such as herself who are having trouble finding space downtown.
"We are looking for foot traffic and if this can connect the Old Mill and downtown, it would be great for everyone," she said.
Cathy Carroll can be reached at 541-383-0304 or at ccarroll@bendbulletin.com.
