(Photo and map courtesy of Taylor Brooks)
Juniper Ridge is a 500-acre industrial and business park that sits in northeast Bend. The City is coordinating efforts to develop Juniper Ridge for industrial and employment uses. Taylor Brooks currently owns and is developing multiple parcels in Juniper Ridge, targeting industry sectors like aerospace, medical devices, computer electronics, software, telecommunications, educational services, financial services, pharmaceutical and alternative energy resources.
The history of Juniper Ridge stretches back further than many locals realize. While construction within the development will be taking place as late as 2028 and beyond, the original plans to develop the land predate the Great Recession of 2008. The Bend City Council adopted the Juniper Ridge Urban Renewal Plan on August 29, 2005 and in 2008, submitted the development’s Conceptual Master Plan.
This master plan outlined design guidelines that were intended to influence the future of the development, and in turn, the surrounding communities and districts that border Juniper Ridge.
The guidelines prioritized the following, “Large areas for businesses to locate and grow, creating diversified family-wage employment; A higher education presence with research and development capabilities; A variety of housing types attractive to a range of users; A wide variety of parks, preserves and trails for outdoor recreation; and a new retail, dining and entertainment center.”
As the years went on, the development shifted its priorities to reflect the realistic nature of what the Bend community needs. As reported by The Bulletin in 2023, “the City had aspirations of Juniper Ridge becoming a vibrant business park and university campus with housing, trails and parks. But the real estate market, the needs of the community and the land uses within Juniper Ridge have all changed since then.”
Taylor Brooks general manager, Jeremy McPherson, who is heading up the Juniper Ridge Development, shared what seems to be the driving theme behind the modern Juniper Ridge Development: providing opportunity for Central Oregon’s industrial sector to expand into a dedicated space, built for their future growth, and to spur the development of nearby housing and commercial services for the neighborhood pod that will be created from the development. Ideally, people working at the variety of businesses in or coming to Juniper Ridge in the near future will be able to go to work, go out for food and drink, and enjoy amenities like shopping, trails and more, all within walking distance of where they live.
This aligns with a greater philosophy that’s been emerging within the Bend City Council’s vision of Bend’s future: to create neighborhood pods where people have the convenience of walkability, increasing both the accessibility and health of the community as a whole.
While many of the deals in Juniper Ridge are still in the works and cannot be announced, a few have moved far along enough that they can be mentioned.
Serán BioScience, a local pharmaceutical company, is one of the businesses expanding into Juniper Ridge. Working with Serán’s executive team, Taylor Brooks planned, designed and constructed a two-building campus to accommodate the company’s growing pharmaceutical operations — specifically their need for a dock-height loading and receiving area and clean-room-quality warehouse space. Taylor Brooks successfully worked within the Juniper Ridge design review guidelines and process, obtaining plan approval in 2023 and completing construction of these buildings in Spring 2025.
Another one to announce is Mike’s Fence Center. As part of Phase 1, Mike’s Fence will purchase two lots totaling nearly eight acres, which the company said will support its long-term growth strategy, including significant expansion across Central Oregon and the surrounding region.
In November 2020, the Bend City Council adopted the Juniper Ridge Work Plan. The Work Plan is divided into three phases, and is intended to provide a blueprint for Council and City staff of actions to address barriers to development in the Juniper Ridge Overlay Zone, and encourage employment-based commercial and industrial development as identified in the 2016 Bend Comprehensive Plan.
With decades of planning in place, the City of Bend also worked alongside EDCO to provide an incentive for businesses to develop within Juniper Ridge. The Juniper Ridge Overlay Zone is located within the Bend Enterprise Zone program, administered by EDCO. The program encourages economic development by exempting real property and equipment taxes used in the production of tangible and intangible goods. Depending on the business’s qualifications, exemptions can be either for a period of three or five years.
With much more business activity on the way, including industrial and eventually commercial services, the impact Juniper Ridge will have on the Bend community, especially for those who live nearby, will be vast.
“In a few years, the area will be unrecognizable,” said McPherson. “The employment in the area will increase by several factors. Anytime you see this much independent capital investment in one area, coming from various private sources with the City investing in infrastructure and allowing developers to move in, the market is telling you what’s going on. This is in demand, and it’s a big opportunity.”
He also mentioned that, similar to the medical district containing St. Charles on the east end of town, commercial services are always the last to pop up. Jobs are coming to the area, the City has been working with developers to build nearby housing for years now, and the last piece of that puzzle to bring people in and create a healthy neighborhood will be the introduction of commercial services.
“We’ll respond to the market, be opportunistic, and provide the services that draw people in,” said McPherson. And like any development, if you want people to show up and stay, there have to be food and drink options. McPherson mentioned the inclusion of food and beverage services and mentioned the possibility of a dedicated food cart lot/taphouse in the area.
After years of limbo, Juniper Ridge is seeing some exciting progress, bringing another vibrant and healthy neighborhood to the future of Bend.
