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

Goodwill Industries site (formerly Oja Lumber):  Progress is being made on the primary building on site (see picture below).  The base masonry on the exterior walls seems close to being complete, and the foundation for the retail out-building seems to be close to completion.

[Goodwill Industries projects a December 2016 completion date for both the new Goodwill building and the additional 4,000 square foot retail building.  The retail building has not pre-leased to anyone yet as far as I know – still 100% available.]

General information:  For what it’s worth, I have received phone calls from two regional coffee chains expressing interest in several undeveloped properties around the City in the last 30 days.  Sandy seems to be quite high on the list of preferred coffee kiosk sites for both companies, predominantly because of the traffic counts on 26, although Sandy’s overall growth rate and the increase in outdoor recreation tourism on the mountain were also mentioned as motivating factors.  One regional retailer in particular seems quite focused on building a brand new facility in Sandy soon.  Watch this space.

Events Etc NW:  We now have a business license application from this business.  They have completed the initial fire/life safety inspection and are working towards correcting items identified by the building official as needing attention.  I will be following up with them shortly to make sure they have access to the resources that they need, but since they have successfully been in business for 20+ years, I don’t anticipate that they will need much attention after receiving their certificate of occupancy.

Carlson property:  Spoke to the owner of this property last week, and the “Sandlandia” food cart project is on track.  Property owner has been waiting on a utility provider (not the City) to complete service to the site, and has received communication that this build out will be completed very shortly.  Paving and striping of the site should take place shortly thereafter.  According to the property owner, cart owners are champing at the bit to get up and running.

The new La Bamba site:  Spoke with Carlo last week, and work continues.  Grand opening for the restaurant probably won’t be as soon as he would like it to be, but he is still aiming for a ribbon cutting before the end of the year.

Smith Building:  It appears that “A Place for Your Face” moved out of the corner unit (39070 Pioneer) sometime during the first week of August.  The property owner has confirmed that this business had been struggling recently and decided to cease operations.  This property will go back up on our rapidly shrinking database of available properties shortly.

Meanwhile, both the skate shop (BDK’s Boardshop) and the art gallery (Imagine Anything Art Gallery) have their business licenses and certificates of occupancy, and are considering a joint September ribbon cutting…..maybe in time for the September First Friday event.  Watch for it.

Anna Zell property:  Ms. Zell is finalizing negotiations with a local massage therapist and a local non-profit office to lease the majority of the space in her building, and is currently working to complete a remodel of the interior of her building to accommodate these two entities.  I anticipate that this building will be coming off of the Available Commercial Buildings database before my next report, shrinking our inventory of available properties further.

AEC Building:  Firwood Design Group has vacated their space in this building and moved their firm to Troutdale, where they are moving into their own building.  The current plan for AEC is to use the newly vacated space for expansion.  More on this to come.

Project work: 

• City of Sandy Omnibus Bicycle Tourism Project: 97% complete – remaining project tasks are a) installing our 3 wayfinding signs and b) installing our two-sided weatherproof kiosk with bike map(s) displayed on each side.  Just waiting for our friends at Public Works to have a free day…
• City departmental webpages: Transit’s new page is complete and live.  The preliminary design for the Police Department page is complete and awaiting review by the Chief.  Next pages on the list are Finance and Public Works.
• The New Business Welcome packet has been redesigned with more emphasis on proper financing and business assistance programs and organizations.
• I have been tasked by the city manager to develop a “vacant buildings” ordinance to address the collection of chronically vacant (and insufficiently maintained) commercial buildings within city limits, particularly in the C-1 district. An initial draft will go before the “Business-friendly” group before the end of August for departmental input and fine tuning, and will then be presented to Council for specific policy direction.

Conferences/training: 

Nothing this month.