What was once scrub brush and juniper trees, is now a new hotspot emerging in southeast Bend.
The area even has a name: Reed South.
What had been a food desert for the residents in the area of Reed Market Road and SE 27th Street is now becoming a community spot, a draw for retail, dining, medical and office.
Three restaurants have agreed to locate there, Cascade Lakes Brewing, Axel’s Taco Shop and The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, a national franchise. When the Greek restaurant opened recently, it had to close in the middle of the day because it ran out of food.
Reed South, a partnership between the Rhine Family Ventures LLC and three Sisters Holdings LLC, is a 2,553-square-foot development anchored by the Cascade Lakes Brewing Co., which opened its third location there in July.
Axel’s just signed a lease for 2,552 square feet for a drive-through, according to Compass Commercial Real Estate Services. The owners were not available for comment.
Andy Rhine, Cascade Lakes Brewing owner, grew up in the area with his family and saw that the community needed restaurants. The closest is The Forum Shopping Center, about 1.7 miles away.
“We’ve always had a strong desire to do something out there,” said Rhine. “Other than Worthy and 10 Barrel east, there was nothing. It’s our community, and we felt we understood the area.”
Since opening, the amount of business has exceeded expectations, said Rhine. Even the smoky skies of August didn’t turn away customers at the pub, which has rooftop seating in the open air, Rhine said.
Soon the area will have a gas station and a dental office, said Ben Hemson, Bend economic development manager.
Building commercial areas among housing new and old helps carve out a complete community, Hemson said.
“Other areas there are starting now,” he said. “You need the doors, or customers, nearby to bring in the businesses. It’s a good opportunity for businesses. The area’s time has come.”
The retail and commercial offerings, however, are not complete without a good coffee shop. There’s been interest, but no one signing on the dotted line, said Bruce Churchill, a Compass Commercial principal broker.
Homes to the east and new homes proposed farther along on SE 27th Street are good potential customers for commercial development, Churchill said.
‘A lot of potential’
Two developments being proposed could add more than 2,500 homes to Bend: Stevens Ranch and Stevens Road Tract. A large portion of the homes are slated to be affordable.
In 2021, Lands Bend Corp. moved ahead with plans to develop the 375 acres of land off of Stevens Road in southeast Bend, known as the Stevens Ranch Master Plan. The area is intended to boost the city’s housing stock with a mix of residential and commercial uses, according to city documents. The plan will include roughly 1,710 housing units, which includes 359 town homes, 701 multifamily units and 650 single-family homes, according to a city memo.
More recently, the city approved development on more than 261 acres of empty land near southeast Bend, the Stevens Road Tract. It is on its way to becoming housing after the City Council gave approval Sept. 20 to bring it inside the city’s urban growth boundary.
Around 147 acres of the Stevens Road Tract east of 27th Street will be dedicated to housing, commercial and a regional park. Those rooftops mean a need for commercial development, Churchill said. At Reed South, there’s about 14,000 square feet of commercial space still available spread out in three buildings, he said.
“Anyone looking in that area with a critical eye could predict that these restaurants will do well,” Churchill said. “The Greek restaurant is a franchise company. Franchisers often have sophisticated analytics looking at the population within a mile radius and income levels. Cascade Lakes is hitting it out of the park.
“People are realizing that they can develop in this area. There’s a lot of potential.”
It’s all part of a big picture, broad stroke view of planning that the city approved in 2016 when it added 2,380 acres to its urban growth boundary, said Brian Rankin, Bend long-range planning manager.
“The goal is to have as many neighborhoods in Bend to have walkable destinations like commercial, schools, parks, employment centers,” Rankin said. “We put pockets of commercial areas along with housing, parks, schools to create what our planning documents call complete communities. These plans take time to complete, like 10 to 20 years.”
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