Sandy Lumber/Sandy River Brewing property

General notes:  I would like to use this space to talk about a problem that everybody in Sandy knows about, but no one knows how to tackle.  We have a problem here that I refer to as “Sandy Syndrome”.  We have many vacant properties in the downtown business district that could house any one of a number of viable types of business.  With the uptick in the overall economy, we are starting to see demand for these properties go up, as have local realtors.  You would think that this would be a good thing for our local commercial property owners, as many of these folks are from older generations and would probably like to retire.  However, a handful of large downtown property owners are refusing to offer their properties for anything close to market rates, preferring instead to ask for wildly inflated prices reminiscent of 2007.  The average asking price for commercial property in Sandy city-wide is between $1 and $1.25 per square foot at last measure….some of these properties have asking prices well more than twice that.  Perhaps the most egregious example of “Sandy Syndrome” is the former Sandy River Brewing/Sandy Lumber property.  Scott Lazenby and I were researching this last year, and found the most recent assessed value of that property at $363,432 (building AND land combined – see attachment above this post).  The current asking price is $1,200,000 for a 23,400 square foot property with a 6,000 square foot partitioned building that is completely torn apart on the inside, and an exterior yard filled with rotting timber and junk.

This problem is well-known in Sandy.  Up until now, the attitude about this at City Hall has been that we will have to wait for these properties to pass along to the next generation of property owners before we can do anything about it.  The problem with that strategy, of course, is that could take 20 years.  That, and there’s no guarantee that the next generation of owners will view the property any differently.

“Sandy Syndrome” is killing business deals left and right, and if the current economy keeps improving we are likely only a few years away from these properties being the only built properties available downtown.  I would very much like some direction on how to approach this problem.  One potential solution to this would be to have the City either split the cost with the owners or pay entirely for a commercial property appraiser to give an independent report on valuation of these properties, so their owners can see what reality looks like.  They may choose to ignore it or argue with it, but at least they would have an appraisal from an independent professional giving them valuation in today’s terms.  This would cost us some money in the short term, but if it means filling a couple of these spaces with active, taxpaying businesses, it would be a fairly good investment over time.  Other than that idea I am open to suggestion, and look forward to discussing this with you individually and with the city manager over the next few months.

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.): 

38250 Pioneer Blvd:  This is the building on the corner of Bluff and US26 owned by Brian Tolle that currently houses Mad Dogz Hobby Shop.  The martial arts dojo next door to the hobby shop absconded a few months back, and several local businesses looked at the vacant space and the building (vacant space for lease/building for sale).  The building will remain in Mr. Tolle’s hands for now, as he has found an auto repair shop in Boring that is looking to move to a more permanent location. (Sorry Bill!) There is a possibility that the building owner might be interested in VOIP phones (definitely) and fiber internet (possibly) in the near future – I am working with Scott Brown right now to get him some pricing options.

Country Co. Insurance:  Work continues on this property.  They planned to be open by January 1, but permit applications for some of the work ordered by the Building Official (ADA parking space, fixing life safety issues with internal staircase) were not completed and turned in to the Planning Desk until the 1^st week of December.

Sandy Vacuum property & Great Expectations property:  An economic development double-whammy!  These two properties are being looked at by Carl Jacobs and his wife as potential locations for a new coin-op laundromat (former) and an accompanying café (latter).  They own 3 other laundromats in the metro area (Gresham, St. John’s, SE 142^nd), and would like to open one here so they can close the SE Portland location (bad neighborhood).  No permits have been pulled on the former, as Carl is waiting for equipment to arrive before arranging the store and the utilities.  However, there has been a permit pulled for a grease interceptor for the latter, leading me to believe that this project is moving forward.  We have given much encouragement to Carl considering the state of our current laundromat and the sheer number of complaints we receive due to its condition.  I have even offered to do some social media marketing for this store in the future if it would help him get established.  More to come for sure…

Bright Beginnings:  This little day care center at the corner of Bornstedt Rd. and Cascadia Village Drive is looking for a new home, and I believe we may (emphasize “may”…there are no guarantees here) have found them the perfect one at the corner of Strauss and Hood Streets.  This building, owned by Leonard and Elvira Muff, used to be an office building for a church that used to sit where the current parking lot is.  The property would be the perfect location for parents who have day-care age kids and kids in grade school, as Sandy Grade School is right across the street; plus, the City would benefit by getting another business along Pleasant Street, helping to solidify that street as part of the downtown business district in the collective mindset of Sandyites.  While the asking sale price for the building is currently way, way too high (reason: “Sandy Syndrome”!) to consider buying the property, the business owner (currently working with Rich Monnie, developer and owner of the property at 16621 Champion Way) is currently trying to work out a rental contract with the Muffs that will work for both parties.  They have also researched the building thoroughly, and although there are a lot of upgrades that will need to take place (this building has been vacant since 1998 to the best of our knowledge), they believe it will work IF they get a rental price from the building owners that they can work with.  It is unknown whether or not this will happen.

We had a pre-application meeting with the business owner and Mr. Monnie at the end of November.  The builder told us he was on a strict timeline as the lease on BB’s current space is up on 12/31, so he had to make a go/no go decision soon.  We have not heard anything since, although I do have an inquiry in with Mr. Monnie as to the current status.  I will keep my fingers tightly crossed, but this particular building owner has not been reasonable with asking prices in the past, which is why all but 1 of their commercial buildings in town are currently unoccupied (and that 1 is only 50% occupied).  Chance of success: 30%

U.S. Metal Works expansion:  With their business starting to ramp up again with the overall economy, Lyle Drucker and company have taken this opportunity to hire some more machinists and build out a new building or two on their property.  They are also taking advantage of the Sandy Enterprise Zone incentives to get some of their property tax money back from the County.  I have been accompanying Jamie Johnk and the Business Oregon folks to talk to them about this program and collect their paperwork for the incentive.

Sandy Main Street:  Most of the work Aubrey and I have taken on with regard to Main Street in November was in preparation for the Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 6^th.  Since this event happened in December, the details will be in next month’s report.  While we had to spend a fair amount of money this year to prepare for this event (including hiring an arborist to help hang the lights), I see areas where we can save money in the future:

• The arborist will not be necessary for next year, as the lights are hung well and secured for future years, and there’s not really any room to add any more.  This will save us $500 in specialized labor expenses.
• PGE also sent 2 bucket trucks and 3 linesman this year at no cost to the City.  If we have anything to hang next year, they should be able to handle it no problem. [and we will be drafting a letter for the Mayor to sign thanking them for providing this to us at no cost…]
• Local restaurants and coffee shops have been eager to donate food and help out.  This can be expanded next year to include more food options
• We need to refine our fundraising efforts – start earlier, manage more closely, train stores on how to be more effective.  I believe we underutilized this resource this year.
• We should really look at trying to get some corporate sponsors in addition to fundraising.  This could be the difference between a good tree lighting and a fabulous tree lighting!

ED Committee:  There is no ED Committee meeting scheduled in November or December due to the holiday season and other commitments of my position.  Look for this to ramp up again in January.

Project work: 

• SACC Board Retreat and Annual Meeting – The annual retreat happened on the 2^nd of November at Heather Michet’s business behind the Beer Den.  We discussed many of the pressing issues like “Will the SACC hire an executive director in the near future?” [probably not], “Will the Chamber move to a new location?” [probably – looking at joining the Historical Society at the museum], “How are Chamber finances at the moment?” [grim, but better than this time last year], and “How can the Chamber improve in 2014?” [focus on what services we provide for businesses].  Of the outgoing members, we will miss Jay McRostie, Lisa Foster and Madeline Eno for their leadership and dedication to the organization – also departing is Rod Barker (wasn’t there much towards the end).  Incoming members include Debbie Vann, Dawn Loomis of MHCC, Marlene ??? , and Debbie Grimes.
• The Mayor’s “Business-Friendly” Task Force – Our first meeting in November was a success.  We identified many areas where the City can improve as well as many areas where we already have improved.  The “How to Open a Business in Sandy” guide concept was well received, and I was encouraged to continue.  The outline is now complete, and after getting feedback from the Planning and Building departments, I will begin to flesh out the first couple of pages for the next meeting.

Conferences/training:  No training or conferences in the month of November.  [Next conference for me will probably be the OCCMA Spring Conference at Skamania Lodge in late March of 2014.