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

Old Blockbuster space:  This space has been leased — according to the property owners, the auto parts store next door is going to expand into the space.

Mount Hood Cigar Co.:  The old Golden Dawn Clinic space (next to the Blockbuster space) has already been leased and is currently being built out.  The Mount Hood Cigar Company is owned and operated by Chris Bailey and appears to be a family affair — multiple members of the family were working on the interior remodel when I delivered their business license last week.  The store is intended to be a quality cigar store with many humidors, a knowledgeable staff and quality product, not one of those tacky “nicotine shops” you see sprinkled about the landscape of some of our larger cities. They are interested in serving pass through weekend outdoor recreation enthusiasts and vacationers heading to Central Oregon as well as the local community.

Sandlandia:  We have two more new tenants at the food cart pod.  One is a BBQ cart (with a smoker!) operated by Swine Dining out of Gresham — basically a cart version of their store on East Burnside.  The other is the Mountain View Cafe, which will serve soups, salads and sandwiches. Neither cart is operating at the writing of this report, but we expect them to open any day.

Trout Pub space:  Now that the owner of this property has completely terminated his relationship with his previous tenant, he is quite eager to get a restaurant going in this space.  As luck would have it, a restaurateur that I have worked with previously called me out of the blue a couple of weeks ago stating that he was interested in Sandy again, and there is now a robust conversation going between my restaurant owning friend and this building owner.  It’s very early in the process, but this gentleman has a proven track record and is really, really, really good at what he does. This could be a game changer for downtown.

Free Land for Brewpub site:  An agreement has been signed between the property owner and a national retailer to build a brand new retail store on this site in 2018.  The developer has asked to keep the identity of this retailer confidential for now, so if you already know who it is please don’t share. However, I expect that an announcement will be made by our new friends in the coming months.   This is going to be the company’s first store in Oregon, and will be the biggest retail store to come to our community in quite a while. Get ready…

Project work:   

• Facade project – City Hall Stairs:  We have a new, non-disintegrating set of stairs on the west side of City Hall, complete with new handrails and refurbished street furniture.  We are currently tying up loose ends and finalizing the project.

• NorthStar – branding project:  We looked into getting a RARE in 2018 to help with the rollout of the rebranding project.  Unfortunately, this would have been one of two projects we would have assigned to this RARE, and the other project required another local government partner that ultimately decided that they were not interested in participating.
• City Hall – Admin: We now have a new office setup on the administrative side of City Hall — the City Manager’s office received lap-band surgery, and we have a new office outside of it for our HR rep.  Also, the Lazenby-era homemade “kitchenette” has been removed and replaced with proper furniture.
• Community Partnership Program grant:  The Meinig Park Gateway Arch project is a go.  The Sandy Tourism Board met on April 3, and both projects on the table were approved.  The other project is a request from AntFarm to partially fund a marketing plan for the Mount Hood Farmer’s Market.

Conferences/training:  

• SACC Strategic Planning Session (March 3): The Chamber’s annual strategy meeting went very well.  We completed a bunch of planning for the coming year, solidified our fundraising strategy and set a number of new goals.  One element that has been missing from the Chamber in recent years is the Chamber providing a forum for candidates running for local office.
• Thrive at 25 @ SHS (March 8):  Another successful morning of scaring the wits out of high school freshman with the simple realities of household budgeting.  Tyler Deems accompanied me to this event and worked the “Taxes” table with me for the morning in the absence of our city manager (double-booked), so special thanks to the Finance Department for the assist.