November 17, 2004
Bond Street Building Signals Start of Mill Quarter Properties' Future Projects
by TOM HAMILTON CBN Senior Editor
The key connecting point between downtown Bend and the Old Mill
District is
beginning to come to life
thanks to the vision and development of Mill Quarter
Properties.
A 13-acre development stretching from Colorado Street to the Old Mill Marketplace and sandwiched between Industrial and Arizona Way is rounding into a remarkable mixed-use development that includes light industrial businesses, working art galleries and a highly phase of Row Houses on the former Brooks-Scanlon Mill site.
Partners Aaron Lafky, Drew Child and Steve Gerlicher had a vision seven years ago of turning around a decaying and rundown portion of the historic mill that included the Dry Shed, Planner Building and Box Factory and developing a mixed use of businesses surrounded by tree-lined streets and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks that would become a major transition between the district and downtown.
"There was a dirt road, an old railroad track running through the acreage and Industrial Way was a narrow street, that motorists used as a shortcut to south Highway 97 when we bought the property," said developer Aaron Lafky.
"The buildings were rundown and needed repair. People questioned why we bought the property given the condition of the buildings and the infrastructure."
But Lafky and his partners envisioned a mini-version of the Pearl District where residents, business and shop owners, retailers and workers lived and worked in harmony. He also saw the parcel as a key link connecting downtown to the emerging Old Mill District.
Today, the first signs of Mill Quarter Properties' vision are emerging with the Bond Street Building on the corner of Industrial Way and Bond Street.
The 6,200-square-foot concrete, steel and brick building is a throwback to the past while utilizing the latest technology offered with ICF concrete and foam insulation.
Lafky and his partners carefully salvaged and recycled the seven, 10 x 10-foot post beams that adorn the exterior of the new building from the Dry Shed Building along with every piece of useable lumber and the windows from the original shed that was built in 1916. The shed was used to store dried and cut lumber before it was shipped during the mill's heydays.
R & H Construction, using a design-build contraction method, was the very capable general contractor on the building and now occupies the first floor as it readies for its biggest project in Central Oregon to date-the Oregon Street Parking Garage set to begin in April.
Project manager Jeff Stewart oversaw the Bond Street Building project that calls for a modern industrial look utilizing brick, exposed concrete, corrugated red metal siding with distinct channels for character and the recycled post beams.
"The guts of the building are concrete, steel, the highly insulated ICF walls and brick," Lafky said. "This building could last hundreds of years."
Lafky and his two partners will occupy the second floor and there is 600-square-foot and 1,000-square-foot office space for lease with adjoining kitchenettes, private bathrooms and separate entrances.
The design-build process gave the subcontractors a lot of latitude in constructing the building with critical and timely decisions necessary in connecting the steel and brick to the core of the building.
"We had good subs in critical areas," Stewart said. "Matching and connecting the brick to the gables wasn't easy. Frank Ceniga's crew did an incredible job."
Lafky said he learned the importance of natural lighting in the workplace from one of his tenants in the working galleries of the Old Mill Marketplace.
"We put in lots of oversized windows for natural light," he said. "It's something I learned from Cristina Acosta's studio. I also saved all the windows from the Dry Shed and plan to use them on a future project."
Future projects should keep Mill Quarter Properties busy over the next couple of years. Up next is the construction of a coffee shop, roasting facility and drive-through for Strictly Organic Coffee on the corner of Arizona Way and Bond Street.
Just across the way, Sunriver Realty will move its offices into a corner space that is being designed by Neal Huston Architects. In April, Lafky is hoping to break ground on 25 row house units for sale and six loft units for rent that will dot Arizona Way. The project is being designed by 42/40 of Denver, Colorado and John Ralston and Leslie Hara-Schick of Bend.
"I'm over wood," he said. "Just walking through the streets of Europe, I noticed how they built things with brick and concrete that have lasted for centuries."
Now, add the 2.5 inch of insulated foam, six inches of core concrete and another 2.5 inches of foam using the ICF insulated wall method of construction and you've got a structure like the Bond Street Building that will earn federal tax credits for energy efficiency.
While Lafky says some city officials and Old Mill District planners initially resisted his vision and building methods, he takes great pride in achieving the Bend Beautification Award for Community Access for his Old Mill-Downtown Connection and Industrial Way project.
Mill Quarter Properties spent $1.3 million in constructing a smart, distinctive infrastructure for the 13-acre site that includes two roundabouts, custom streetlights, trees and cast-iron tree grates that serve as a gateway to future projects.
"We tried to emulate the Pearl District in establishing a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere with the wider sidewalks," Lafky said. "The streetscape set the tone for future projects that will ensure the vitality and visibility of this site for generations."
Project manager Jeff Stewart of R & H Construction would like to thank the following Central Oregon subcontractors and suppliers for their work on the Bond Street Building:
Bell Hardware; Bend Heating & Sheetmetal; Farwest Steel
Corp.; Hooker Creek Asphalt & Paving; Hooker Creek
Equipment & Supply; Insulation by Davis; McMurray &
Sons Roofing; Miller Lumber; Pacific Painting; Scofield
Electric; SEI Northwest; Severson Plumbing; Ameritech Machine
Manufacturing; Aurora Painting; Ceniga Construction; David
Evans & Associates and Sure Fire Protection.
