Bend-based DENT Instruments recently purchased a 15,794-square-foot building located at 925 SW Emkay Dr. Brokers Peter May and Darren Powderly of Compass Commercial Real Estate Services worked with Christopher Dent, president and CEO of DENT Instruments, to secure the location. Ted Nicholson of CB Richard Ellis, Portland, represented the FDIC.
The property, which includes 1.6 acres and a class A office building, previously belonged to the now-defunct Columbia River Bank. The FDIC gained control of the asset and placed it on the market in summer 2010.
Purchasing a property directly from the FDIC presented some unique challenges, said Powderly, but ultimately resulted in an attractive investment opportunity with immediate equity for the buyer.
“The final negotiated purchase price was less than 50 percent of current replacement value, and Christopher was able to secure financing with a historically low interest rate,” said Powderly.
DENT Instruments designs and manufactures data loggers and energy recorders for the growing energy-efficiency/green-technology industry. The company will operate its global headquarters out of the building, which is nearly five times the size of its previous location. The new space will allow for growth of professional-wage jobs in Central Oregon.
“The new building is absolutely vital to the growth of DENT Instruments,” Dent said. “We are capacity– and employee-constrained in the old building. That is, we can’t add staff to produce more products until we have a place to put them. The analogy is not unlike a root-bound potted plant that begins to grow and flourish shortly after being put into a bigger pot.”
Compass Commercial brokers May and Powderly worked collectively with Dent, Economic Development for Central Oregon and the City of Bend to coordinate business development incentives available for local companies, helping facilitate DENT Instruments’ expansion.
