Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.): Once again, we have multiple groups of potential investors currently looking at the viability of a brew pub here in Sandy. The owner of OrganicSandy.com (Jennifer Davis) brought up the idea with me in a meeting recently – I put her in touch with Jeff Newberry at NW WaterWorks to look at his building as a possible location. She decided that she would look at this possibility a few months later after she has her current business up and running smoothly.
Not a week later, I was contacted by a representative of an investment group based in Estacada that seems to be approaching the idea with a bit more enthusiasm (read: money). Tracy knows some of the principals in this group, and assures me that they are quite serious about the idea. I also put her in touch with Jeff, and introduced her to Ms. Davis to see if they were interested in joining forces. Also made her aware that there is another possible location for such an endeavor (Wong’s King) if they were interested in checking that space out too. This actually looks promising – I will be keeping a very close eye on this as it develops.
White Star Massage: Sadly, this business recently closed up shop and moved to Gresham. The building that they were located in is owned by the principal at Sandy Family Dentistry, and they tell me that business has been good enough that they are going to expand into the space that White Star was in over the next few months. Whether or not this was the impetus for White Star’s move is unknown at this time.
The Sub Shop: It appears for now that this business is no more. Workers started clearing out the space this business was in to prepare for the Verizon Wireless store expansion at the first of the month. The owner (Jill Eakin) was initially looking at the vacant property next to the DMV, but ultimately decided against reopening the store altogether – most likely because the cost to convert this space into a restaurant was simply too high for her to recover in an adequate amount of time. Financing was available, and Julie Snell at CCB did talk to her about a loan, but we must assume at this time that the numbers just did not work favorably enough for Jill to convince her to pull the trigger. We also understand that the closing of SHS campus during lunchtime severely impacted her business, and was probably the leading factor in the downfall of this business.
Paola property: Jack and Mitch have filled their last remaining space in the Junker Building, and it sounds like a winner. The name of the store going into this space is Ox and Marley – they are a retail “vintage home décor” shop selling mostly antiques with a few new items (soaps, candles, etc.). They hope to expand into small furniture as the store grows. The owner I talked to (DeeAnn Fisher) is an extremely high-energy personality, and certainly seems to have the right “drive” to help this store get off of the ground. I have already talked to them as a SACC board member about a ribbon-cutting/grand opening, and they said they would like to do it during the September First Friday! Definitely more to come….
[ps: This is EXACTLY the kind of retail store we want to encourage in the downtown core, and will add to the growing antique/second-hand retail cluster in the area. This store definitely seems to have a vision and a flair for marketing, if the window treatments and current visible merchandise are any indicator]
The Buzz at Bakers: Tiffany Baker will be moving this barber shop from its current location to the old Dotty’s property in the Clackamas FCU complex in the Bi-Mart parking lot. This is due to the coming expansion of the gun store, which will also be dislocating Lori Ryland’s studio on the other end. No word quite yet on dates, but as soon as we know we will forward on that information.
Sandy Antiques & More: I followed up with the Building Dept on this matter, and fortunately this situation seems to have been resolved. The plumbing issues have been corrected and a permit was issued for this work. The Clackamas County health inspector, who had originally threatened this business with large fines for operating without a license, has now inspected all of the work (including the new grease interceptor) and has confirmed that the operators have the proper food handling permits and other licensure. However, I am sure that this has been a very expensive lesson to learn for this business operator, and a rather unpleasant one as well. I have also been informed (admittedly through second hand information) that the owner(s) now believe the City to be the sole cause of all of these problems. Sometimes you can’t win no matter what you do….
Rainbow’s End Glass & Gifts: As I predicted, this shop went out of business this month due to (one can only assume) lack of customers. Apparently Sandy can only support one “head shop” at a time, and Rip City Glass seems to be a much more professional retail operation (better location, better store interior, better lighting, better advertising, etc.) This property will go up on the available commercial properties database shortly. [ps: we need contact information for the Sahs…I would like to talk to them about how they are marketing their properties going forward.]
Public Information:
- Social media: Facebook followers = 3,195 (+19) // Twitter followers: 125 (+3) // Again, not much activity this month, as our posts were mostly advertising events going on in town. Biggest traffic generator was the announcement about the completion of the Tupper to Bruns urban trail (33 likes, 6 comments, 2 shares). I will attempt to generate more activity on the FB page in June…
- Current copy of H2O bill newsletter – G:\Economic Development\PIO duties\Water bill newsletter\previous newsletters\2013\July 2013.pdf
- Current copy of the Sandy Business Insider – pending
ED Committee: No meeting this month. Next meeting: August 6th, 2013 – 6pm
We have four participants in the Hood to Coast local coupon project (DQ, Taco Time, Great Expressions, and TCBY), and coupons have been sent off to H2C for distribution. This has the potential at least to bring a fair amount of money into the community on race day. I am excited to see how many of these coupons actually come back to the participating businesses…
Project work:
- destination hotel – Nothing new to report here…project is still in a holding pattern until we get more information. Scott has transferred his file on this project to me, and I will maintain the lines of communication with Wendy going forward.
- i3 fiber project – Things are moving again, and rapidly. We will be convening the SandyNet Advisory Board for a special meeting on July 8 to discuss recent developments. The company that purchased i3America (Pickstock Group) is still interested in the project, and although they feel that the contract needs to be altered slightly, they remain committed to the original project. Joe has also been pursuing our alternate “Plan B” to see if performing the work ourselves (with the help of contractors, of course) using more traditional methods of construction will be a better deal for the City. Stay tuned…
- PPLIP – Nothing new to report here….a few prizes remain, but this project ultimately did not improve usage or awareness of this parking lot. It has been a fairly good advertising medium for local businesses if nothing else…
- Tupper to Bruns urban trail project – On Saturday, June 21st, members of the City’s staff that had previously worked on this project convened in the afternoon to finish what we started. The trail is now complete for all intents and purposes; there will be some additional gravel compacting to take place later in the year, but for now we have done all we can do. For safety’s sake, the PW Dept installed a metal pole in the middle of the Tupper Road end of the trail to prohibit motorized vehicles from using the trail. Look to Scott Lazenby’s last Weekend Update for pictures….or better yet, wander down to the trail head and check it out in person.
- Ford Family Foundation project – see below…
Conferences/training: The Ford Institute Leadership Program that Beth Scarth, Monica Smith and I have been involved with is now waiting for the actual build-out portion of the project to get here. Work is scheduled to begin on the weekend of July 20th, with a continuation of work on the weekend of July 27th if necessary. I believe that if we receive enough volunteers to help with the actual physical labor (which we should), finishing up in one weekend will be pretty easy. For complete information on the FILP Highway to Hood Cohort and our SCAC Remodel project, check out our project presentation at: http://www.myplacetolearn.com/uploads/users/files/H2H-SCACPresentation/index.html
I will also be attending the Oregon City/County Manager’s Association summer conference July 9th – 12th. Was originally scheduled to share a room with the big boss, but with his impending departure to Lake All Ego, I will now be the City’s lone representative at this conference. If there is anything I can address for anyone (staff or Council) while there, please let me know. I will be available via e-mail while there, and can also be reached on my cell phone (503-475-8430) if necessary.