Building shows no letup in Sisters

Despite mixed-to-negative reports of commercial development across the country and Oregon, Sisters developers and entrepreneurs appear to have a differing take.

According to Goldman Sachs, some $1.2 trillion of commercial mortgages are scheduled to mature this year and next. That's almost a quarter of all outstanding commercial mortgages, and the highest recorded level dating back to 2008. The biggest single holder are banks, many local and regional, with a 40 percent share.

Other estimates put the "maturity wall" as high as $1.5 trillion. Many borrowers will be refinancing mortgages at two or even three times higher rates thanks to the 500 basis points of Fed rate hikes over 2022-23.

Nearly every day there's another business announcing closings or layoffs. By the end of May the list of planned store closures in the U.S. hit 3,100.

If the trend continues, over 8,000 locations will be closed by the end of the year, 40 percent more than 2023.

Not so in Sisters.

Photo by Bill Bartlett

Personalized Nutrients is building a new facility in the industrial park in Sisters.

Personalized Nutrients' new 16,000-square-foot production and office building is roofed, sided, windowed with interior work well underway. Nutritional supplement maker Metabolic Maintenance, with a large footprint at East Barclay Drive and North Larch Street, is taking over Laird Superfoods Building A on Lundgren Mill.

Personalized Nutrients currently is renting Laird Building B as its new facility is being built. The two businesses will share a driveway.

Nationally over 100,000 tech workers have been given their pink slip since January. At the same time the number of tech workers in Sisters is growing, albeit with many working remotely.

PlantBaby develops a portfolio of clean-label, organic, plant-based foods and beverages to support families on the nutritional journey from infancy to adulthood. Their lead product is Kiki Milk. Among the leadership team are former Laird Superfoods employees. The eight employees are spread across the states with production in New York but are headquartered "virtually" in Sisters.

It is such tech - or clean/green - businesses that planners and developers hope to draw to Sisters. And while a number of "spec" buildings have languished for more than a year in finding tenants, the inevitable residential growth in Sisters creates more needs for service-related businesses to care for a population expected to reach 4,500 by the next census.

Everything from barbers to electricians to landscapers to money managers will be required to serve an affluent citizenry if home prices are any gauge. Seven of the 23 homes (30 percent) sold in Sisters Country in August transacted for more than $1 million, including two that exceeded $2 million in price, a continuing trend.

Towncraft Properties has filed an application to build a 13,410-square-foot mixed use building at Three Peaks Industrial Parks. This is the second of two planned new light manufacturing, office, warehousing buildings being added to the 14-lot development facing West Barclay Drive.

Across the street at Sisters Woodlands, a 300-unit housing development, commercial occupants are being actively sought and according to Eric Strobel of EDCO (Economic Development of Central Oregon) there are serious lookers, including a restauranteur.

Also on the dining front, consideration to a possible rooftop restaurant atop the West Cascade Avenue property recently acquired by Cascade Spirits is in discussion. Strobel says that the owners of Rancher Butcher Chef, a high-end steak house in Bend, who live in Sisters are eyeing the spot as a potential location, although such talks are very preliminary.

Also on Cascade Avenue, final approval is expected any day for a three-story mixed use building next door to Dixie's, owners of the proposed project that includes commercial on the ground floor and residential on floors two and three, the third being a penthouse.

Dixie's will take the opportunity to square off its store footprint to enlarge its sales floor. The properties will have a common wall.

Notwithstanding the optimism shown by developers, thousands upon thousands of square feet of commercial property are available to rent or buy in Sisters including in those for sale the 9,120-square-foot Three Creeks Brewery building on East Barclay Drive and the 4,868 sq. ft. Three Creeks Building (not related) on South Ash Street. The Ash Street property is home to several small businesses, including the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show office.

The tenants are hopeful that any new owner will allow them to stay.

There are currently 14 commercial properties available for rent in the city. The average size for available commercial buildings for rent in Sisters is 1,798 square feet, and the average rent is $102/-per-square-foot. The largest commercial property for lease in Sisters provides 11,965 square feet.