(Downtown Redmond has a nice mix of shops, eateries, brewpubs and galleries | Photo courtesy the Redmond Chamber of Commerce)
The Bend-Redmond area has been named the No. 1 Top 10 Best-Performing Small City in the nation for the fourth year in a row by The Milken Institute, and while Bend may take much of the glory for that accolade, Redmond has played no small part in the region’s growth — even in the midst of a pandemic.
The number of building permit applications Redmond has received in 2020 is up 18 percent over last year, permits issued are up 24 percent and total planning permits are up 15 percent. “The other stat that is important to look at is building permit valuation. I like this valuation because it captures everything being built and constructed, from small additions to new 50,000-square-foot facilities,” says Deputy City Manager John Roberts. “This valuation is up 17 percent, or $17 million dollars. In light of the global pandemic, it’s like Redmond is living in the NBA bubble. Things are going well. It appears everybody is bullish on Redmond; our data points to this to be true.”
As the world pivots to learn how to live with the changes brought about in 2020, individuals, families and businesses are leaving larger cities in search of quieter, more peaceful places. With people moving away from the big metropolitan areas, Redmond has seen explosive growth right alongside Bend.
“I love what Frank Bonacquisti on KBND says: He calls Redmond the city that ‘gets it.’ Our roads are good and our businesses are good. We are truly open for business; businesses come here and stay here,” says Redmond Mayor George Endicott. “Since 2010, in our traded sector, we’ve had an 88 percent growth in jobs and an even higher growth in wages. No wonder we make top ranking with Milken.”
Roberts says that the City of Redmond has a strong history of planning for growth, and has managed to stay in a growth trajectory despite some bumps along the way. “The most important document we have that guides our growth is our Comprehensive Plan. Our hope is to complete that by the end of the year. In updating the plan, we further refined, updated and polished our vision for the community. We stressed the importance of keeping our supporting plans current and updated, such as area plans and public facility plans.” He adds, “All the hard previous work put into these planning efforts is now evident. You can see it. The distinguishing trait of Redmond from a planning standpoint is that Redmond is good about being prepared to accommodate what we are experiencing today, in all sectors: industrial, commercial and residential. In updating and completing the Comprehensive Plan, it positions us to be prepared for continued growth.”
As reported in Britannica.com, Redmond was founded in 1904 by pioneers Frank and Josephine Redmond, who constructed their home near an irrigation-canal right-of-way. After the arrival of the railroad in 1911, the city developed as a service and shipping center for cattle and lumber. Roberts Field, Central Oregon’s commercial airport, was formerly the World War II-era Redmond Army Air Base. The city’s population has grown considerably since the 1990s. In 2000, the population was reported at 13,481; in 2010, it was 26,215; and that number will likely be much higher with the upcoming census.
Eric Sande, executive director of the Redmond Chamber of Commerce and CVB, says that the struggles brought on by the pandemic are reminiscent of 2008, when the economy collapsed just after the 97 Highway was redirected through town. “Our little town has had tough timing issues. But it hangs in there,” he says. “The pandemic has definitely been interesting. We’ve had to be creative. When people are challenged with a roadblock, the question becomes, ‘How do we keep the business open?’ The old hotel (SPC Redmond Hotel) reopened right in the middle of the pandemic. They chose to shut down, but reopened and are doing well. The City of Redmond worked really hard with them. The dream was to see the hotel reopen, then we got struck with the pandemic.” He adds, “We are seeing creative ways of thinking in allowing businesses to keep their doors open. When people are pushed to the wall, that’s when you really see some ingenuity and an outside-of-the-box approach. Some businesses are doing expansions. There is work out there.”
Endicott agrees that building continues to fuel the Redmond economy. “We have several hundred building applications. Hayden Homes continues to grow. We also have two affordable housing projects. One we did in conjunction with the county. This will have 485 homes, half of which will be market-rate and half affordable. We are also doing 47 units downtown. The rent will be approximately $500 per month, subsidized. We have several hundred new apartment units going in,” he explains. “For years, we didn’t have any apartments, but suddenly, the industry determined that it was needed.” Most of the apartments, he says, are on the south side of town near Ridgeview High School. “Single-family units also continue to grow. In terms of COVID, the cost of lumber has doubled in the last few months, which is difficult. COVID has a habit of killing the goose that laid the golden egg. But the boom continues in Redmond in terms of building.”
Sande says that the beauty of a small town, especially during times of crisis, is the sense of community and connection the residents and business owners feel. “People really understand the importance of shopping local. They want to help, and this is what they can do. The sense of community is really strong. The chamber focuses on this by keeping people feeling connected and engaged. There is still the opportunity to network, but in different ways. We are still doing coffee clatters, but they are online now.” He adds, “We are trying to keep some sense of normalcy and tradition alive; that’s really what we’ve been focusing on. It’s easier to do that in a small town sometimes.”
Community spirit is not the only beautiful thing that Redmond locals enjoy: Its geography is spectacular as well. Dry Canyon, with its steep canyon walls and varied scenery, is home to a combination of naturally preserved high-desert geological features and modern recreational amenities such as dirt and paved trails, a park that offers a pavilion, benches, picnic tables, water fountains, a dog park, tennis, pickle ball, softball and disk golf. Sweeping views of the Cascades and Smith Rock are visible from all parts of town, and the Crooked and Deschutes rivers flow through the area. In town, there is a nice mix of eateries and brewpubs offering just about any type of culinary experience desired. Art galleries, a movie theater and the Expo Center round out entertainment options. And of course, Redmond’s central location makes it highly accessible to the surrounding ski areas, lakes and other recreational features the region is famous for.
Whereas the role of the chamber is traditionally to market all of these wonderful things Redmond has to offer, Sande says that over the past nine months, the chamber has had to rethink this. “The big push now is in supporting existing businesses,” he says. “We are not any different than any other community. Some businesses have been impacted, some have not,” he says. “We’ve been working with those that took a hit to get the CARES act grants. We are trying to deal with each business on an individual basis to try to navigate this very unforgiving, uncertain time we are in.”
Attempting to stay on top of maintaining contact with the chamber’s more than 800 member businesses has been the greatest challenge they have faced during the pandemic, Sande says. “I love the saying that we are all in the storm together but in different boats,” he says. “We try to call all our members, over 800 of them, and ask what they need. Some are doing great; some can’t pay the rent. Keeping on top of this, and keeping the available information out there up to date, is daunting at times, he says. “This is not a one-size-fits-all situation. Just imagine the Oregon Unemployment Office trying to deal with everyone all at one time. Then the places where people could get access to internet closed, like the library. The DMV closure was a problem too; how do people reapply for licenses?” As closures prevented people from accomplishing basic tasks, Sande says the chamber became the information hub in Redmond. “We had to provide information and cover a tremendous span of needs and resources. The Chamber gets every question imaginable: like, when do hummingbirds come back to Central Oregon? This was an actual question we received, they wanted a date,” he says with a laugh. “We used to keep a journal of questions we received… we deal with it all.”
The most rewarding aspect of the situation, Sande says, is that the chamber also got to distribute funding to struggling businesses. “When we’ve been able to help a business find the resources they need, like a grant, the response is pretty exciting, he says. “The Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council gave us a lump sum, then we got to issue the checks. The relief of people receiving the money was very rewarding. We were part of a team with the state, city and county. The state got money, gave it to the county through the COIC, then the chambers distributed the money. We were part of the wheels on the spokes.”
During the down time in which tourism has been placed on the back burner, Sande says that the money coming in earmarked for marketing has been used to revamp collateral materials. “We have a Visitor’s Bureau with dollars coming in to market the community, but we are told not to do so. When we can start to market again, we will have new logos and a new website. We are using the down time to do some needed cleanup and reorganization.” He adds, “We switched from marketing to helping businesses that deal with tourism survive so that when we do reopen, there will be restaurants to go to, shops to shop at and a robust community to come to. If no one survives, there won’t be a community to promote. We are working hard to keep everyone open and vibrant.”
Roberts says that the staff at the City of Redmond is working hard to keep the momentum going as well. “The pandemic has not affected the Comprehensive Plan, but it did affect how we work with and serve the community,” he says. “The biggest challenge was adapting in order to be able to continue to provide services at a robust level. We did that! We adapted and pivoted quickly. We, as a city, we can be proud of this. We were able to continue to meet the needs of the development community and serve them well.”
The three big goals at the City level, Roberts says, are to complete the Comprehensive Plan; to continue progress on the Skyline Village planned affordable housing project; and to continue work on the South Highway 97 Urban Renewal District. “These projects show how we continue to work with our partners and address the needs of ongoing growth,” he says. “Mobility on Highway 97 needs to be addressed. We are developing this to help us leverage partnerships and opportunities to improve mobility and safety in this corridor. It’s a big deal. We also have a big focus on Skyline Village. When you look at the Beacon Report, which tracks single-family home data month to month and other residential data, regionally, there will continue to be heightened need for affordable housing.”
Roberts says that the Beacon Report shows trends of increased home prices, and indicates more demand than supply right now. “On the residential side, we are seeing more multifamily projects coming through. We are starting to see a bigger mix and diversity of housing being built. We think this will continue,” he says. “Overall, our message is that we continue to work hard despite COVID to keep our infrastructure updated and to build the capacities needed to meet our future demand.”
“Real estate has just been booming,” agrees Sande. “It has not slowed down. Interest rates have been incredible; so refinances are big. Every part of the housing industry is just hopping. There have been challenges, like not being able to have more than one trade on a property at one time, which put pressure on contractors to make sure everything was scheduled in a timely manner. And the fires are challenging the industry: Mills burned, so the price of lumber has gone way up. We’ve had a one-two punch and just constant challenges. But everyone is pulling together and rising to the occasion to meet the demands and get it done.”
Sande says that even though the Chamber office is closed, the Visitor Center is open, and there is a front foyer where brochures are located. “The number of Visitor Guides and maps we are going through is unbelievable,” he says. “On the tourism side, the resorts had a phenomenal season. As soon as a cancellation happened, another one booked the space. People were coming in from the Valley because they just had to get out for a change of scenery. That really helped maintain the room tax that counties and cities rely upon. This lessened the impact of the complete shut-down of tourism.”
Endicott says that morale at the City employee level seems good despite the struggles brought about by COVID. “Our city manager (Keith Witcosky) is doing a yeoman’s job. The whole parent thing, with parents trying to cope with the lack of daycare and the schools being closed, is challenging. But Keith has done a great job helping the staff balance that work-life conundrum. Keith got innovative with the staff to allow flexibility. Most of our meetings are virtual,” he says. “Our downtown has been hit. Four of our restaurants, maybe more, have closed permanently. Small business is really hurting; they just don’t have the business. The 50 percent capacity for restaurants and the 6-foot separation requirement is hard.”
Endicott says he is impressed with how creative some of the restaurants have gotten. “There is this weird rule; you can’t sit at a bar unless the bar is up against a wall. So a lot of bars are building Plexiglas walls so that they now have a wall. Jersey Boys has done this. I was in Madaline’s last night, and they’ve done it too,” he explains. “They put in a combination of walls and Plexiglas so that they can have a denser seating capacity. It’s quite interesting the innovations the businesses are applying. A lot of the local-based businesses are hurting though, like dress shops and bookstores. But the big box stores are booming. They have been just swamped; people are working on home projects. We’ve seen a lot of that going on. People are catching up on doing chores.”
He adds, “A former community development director used to say Redmond is like Neapolitan ice cream. We have residential on the west, retail in the middle and industry on the east. We have a nice balance in town between those three.” He continues, “We just know how to run a good city. We get it. We work very hard at the live-work-play balance.”
