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Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com
Coming Monday
Buying up Bend
Central Oregon’s quarterly health and fitness magazine
Investors are quietly purchasing hundreds of lots in unfinished subdivisions; a California congressman with a heavily scrutinized business record has emerged as a leader in the practice — and he, like others, has his eyes on the return, not development.
SPRING / SUMMER 2010
D E S E R T
PULSE Healthy Living in Central Oregon
Stage zero breast cancer
Is the treatment worse than the disease?
The Bulletin
P
almer’s Motel & Cafe in northeast Bend serves up home-style breakfasts, advertises monthly rental rates — and doubles as a California congressman’s base of operations for buying up several of Bend’s partially built subdivisions. Since last summer, the motel has been listed as the business address for Long Term Bend Investors LLC, a company backed by U.S. Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., and prominent California homebuilder Harry Crowell. Miller and Crowell have emerged as some of the largest real estate investors in Deschutes County. Their company has quietly spent more than $6 million to buy about 390 lots in Bend and Redmond subdivisions that foundered after the housing market crash. The land came with sidewalks, utilities and even mailboxes for homes that were never built. The two men are part of a small group of investors who are betting big that Bend’s plummeting
By Sheila G. Miller The Bulletin
It all started with a cupcake. Clara Mitchell’s son, recently on a gluten-free diet, came home from school and told his mother there had been a party in class that morning. He’d received a cupcake, and when he told his teacher he was on a new diet, she suggested he just eat the frosting. Mitchell was frustrated, so she sent out an e-mail to some friends. Turns out, she’s not the only parent with students in the Bend-La Pine school district concerned about snacks and sweet treats offered to children when they’re not in the lunchroom. Mitchell banded together with other parents and started the Smart Food Initiative, which two weeks ago presented its concerns to the school board and other district administrators. Their goal is to educate district officials about the dangers of junk food and ultimately persuade teachers and principals to cut back on the treats. But administrators say the district already has a wellness policy that encourages healthy eating, and compliance varies depending on the school. See Schools / A7
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Seller: Bank of the Cascades Price: $2 million Date: March 15, 2010
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The Bulletin
REDMOND
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We use recycled newsprint
U. S 7 Seller: Sterling Savings Bank Price: $768,000 Date: March 18, 2010
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A university forever linked with tragedy By Carol Biliczky
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5 Seller: Badger Partners LLC Price: $728,000 Date: Aug. 13, 2009
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2 Seller: Edge Vertical Development Corp. Price: $10 and “other consideration” Date: Sept. 23, 2009
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The Associated Press file photo
John Filo’s Pulitzer-winning photo of Mary Ann Vecchio on the Kent State campus on May 4, 1970, the day National Guardsmen shot dead four students. Within days, 4.3 million students were protesting nationwide.
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4 Seller: Northstar Developers Inc. Price: $10 and “other consideration” Date: Sept. 16, 2009
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For an interactive map, including photos of the lots, visit www.bend bulletin.com /buyingbend
Movies
News that federal authorities are questioning the identity of a former Bend liquor agent has local business owners and public officials wondering about the security and screening practices of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. U.S. marshals on Tuesday arrested the former OLCC regional manager known as Jason Evers in Idaho on a federal charge of providing false information on a passport. Authorities say they can’t be sure who he actually is and an Ohio man believes — based on information from federal investigators — that Evers stole the identity of his 3-year-old son, who was murdered 28 years ago. That information, and the fact that Evers’ most recent assignment in Nyssa was to focus on licensing, has some licensees questioning whether personal and financial information they’ve given to the OLCC is secure. See Evers / A6
KENT STATE — 40 YEARS LATER
1 Seller: Liberty Bank Price: $1.1 million Date: Oct. 19, 2009
Long Term Bend Investors has spent millions of dollars since last summer to buy up bare lots in partially completed subdivisions. Public records show the following purchases:
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Palmer’s Motel & Cafe in Bend is listed as the business address for Long Term Bend Investors. Crowell says the motel’s owner, David Langmas, son of a former Bend mayor, had been trying to get him to invest in Bend real estate for years.
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The subdivision lots involved
ANALYSIS: Contrasting a disastrous oil spill vs. a need to drill, Page A2 ALSO: Oil may drift east
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The Bulletin
Hillary Borrud / The Bulletin
TOP NEWS INSIDE
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By Cindy Powers
Their home base
real estate values have bottomed out and are buying subdivisions from banks and distressed developers. Investors have snapped up 600 to 900 lots in ready-to-build subdivisions in the past six to nine months, said Bruce Kemp, a partner at Compass Commercial Real Estate in Bend. Long Term Bend Investors is probably the largest real estate investment outfit active in Bend and Redmond, he said. “(Lots are) being purchased … at or below the cost of infrastructure, so your underlying land value is really free or in some cases slightly negative,” Kemp said. The influx of cash shows investors believe real estate prices have hit the bottom, he added. Most of these buyers plan to hold the land three to five years to get a 20 percent return on their money, and some are hoping for “a double-your-money play,” Kemp said. Both Miller and Crowell have worked for decades in the homebuilding business, but they do not intend to develop their land in Deschutes County. See Investors / A6
By Hillary Borrud
Bend-La Pine parents take aim at policy on junk food
Long Term Bend Investors LLC, backed by Gary Miller, left — a Republican congressman from California — and California homebuilder Harry Crowell, has emerged as one of the largest investors in Bend and Redmond real estate since the housing market crash.
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The Dash You can do it
Big-time investors
Eagle Rd.
Fresh fuel Kick-start a balanced Healthy Day
Purcell Blvd.
H I G H
With OLCC official in jail, area licensees fear personal info’s at risk
KENT, Ohio — Seventeen students were killed on college campuses by police between 1968 and 1971, but it was four deaths at Kent State that galvanized a nation. Even 40 years after the shootings, Kent State University is indelibly linked to student protests over the Vietnam War. “Anywhere that you go in the world, people know about Kent State,” said President Lester Lefton, who was a graduate student at the University of Rochester when the shootings occurred, “although they may not necessarily know why.” Even from a distance of 40 years, the events of May 4 defy explanation. Four days of unrest over the U.S. invasion of Cambodia culminated in the deaths of four students and wounding of nine at the hands of 28 Ohio National Guardsmen armed with gas masks, rifles and bayonets. See Kent State / A4