Real Property Planning

Since 2012 the Department has made improvements to the property to improve its desirability for lease and its value to the Common School Fund. It is currently leased at full capacity with three tenants for a variety of light-industrial uses. In September 2017, the Department received a request to purchase the property, which initiated the request to the Land Board to proceed with due diligence. 

On June 12, 2012, the Land Board authorized an equal exchange of land with Premier Bank, the adjacent property owner. The due diligence conducted for that exchange included altering the boundaries of both properties from long narrow parcels to square parcels. The reconfiguration provided road access to the Millican Road parcel, and improved the marketability of both parcels for future development and use.

The City of Prineville annexed the Department of State Lands parcel as an industrial parcel, and later it was certified as a “shovel ready” site under Business Oregon’s Certified Industrial Site identification process. The property was actively marketed in 2012 and 2013 but received no offers. Recently, DSL received an application to purchase the property by one of the neighbors, Legacy Ranches, which initiated the request to the Land Board to proceed with due diligence. 

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To implement the master plan, DSL is working to bring the property into Redmond’s urban growth boundary, partnering with Deschutes County and the Oregon Military Department to exchange or sell parts of the tract.

Deschutes County is proposing an equal-value exchange of property adjacent to the City of Redmond for approximately 140 acres of the South Redmond tract to expand the county fairgrounds. The county has proposed an exchange for industrial property it owns on the City of Redmond’s eastern boundary.  

The Military Department is proposing to acquire 20 acres of the property for a new readiness facility immediately south of the fairgrounds expansion area (the proposed exchange with Deschutes County portion). The Military Department would purchase the property directly from DSL. 

Since October 2015, DSL has retained a consulting team to prepare the necessary application materials for UGB expansion, annexation into the city and rezoning the properties. It is anticipated the entire process will be completed in spring 2018.

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In 2016, 320 acres of the Stevens Road Tract were brought into the City of Bend’s urban growth boundary as part of an expansion of the UGB. The western half is now eligible for annexation into the city. The eastern half, remaining outside the UGB and pending approval from Deschutes County, is rezoned for multi-use agricultural purposes, a more appropriate zoning designation for property adjacent to developing or urbanized land. 

At their public meeting on Oct. 17, 2017, the State Land Board approved the Department of State Lands’ recommendation to begin due diligence work to determine the property’s value, and to analyze it for potential sale.

Several factors are influencing the State Land Board’s decision to explore the sale of the Stevens Road tract: 1) expansion of the City of Bend UGB was delayed for several years, creating a current deficit in developable land in the Central Oregon region; 2) the real estate market has sufficiently rebounded since 2008, and real estate development is strong again in Central Oregon; 3) the development potential of the Stevens Road Tract is generating interest and inquiries from public and private entities in the region; and 4) as an asset of the Common School Fund, the Stevens Road Tract represents a significant investment opportunity to generate revenue for the fund, and place much-needed developable land into the hands of the private sector and local community.