The Juniper Ridge property was given to the City of Bend by Deschutes County in 1990 at no cost. The County required that the City create a master plan for the property, and that at least 10% of the land be reserved for parks and open space. In addition, the land must be used for a “public purpose,” such as job creation. The City has fulfilled all of these requirements.
Facilities planned for Juniper Ridge in the future include a “Town Center” component with a major public space and a Performing Arts Center, and a mixture of local shops and residential neighborhoods. The project’s design has a very strong pedestrian orientation. Juniper Ridge will offer bikeways, pedestrian paths, running trails, and a network of parks, gathering places, and open space that will knit together the employment, commercial, and residential neighborhoods of the plan. In short, everything the City has learned in the past fifteen years about attractive, sustainable, and successful development will be applied to Juniper Ridge. Industry sectors such as aerospace, medical devices, computer electronics, software, telecommunications, educational services, financial services, and alternative energy resources will be specifically targeted to expand into Juniper Ridge.
Les Schwab, a company with $1 billion in annual revenue and one of the largest employers in Central Oregon, has relocated its corporate headquarters to Juniper Ridge. Suterra Corporation, a Bend biotechnology company, is currently building its new headquarters at Juniper Ridge, and Pacific Power is constructing an electrical substation that will eventually serve the entire 1,500 acre project. In another couple of years, Pacific Power will construct a service center at Juniper Ridge with offices and room for vehicles and equipment to serve the City and the surrounding region.
For more information on this exciting new neighborhood, visit the City of Bend website for updates and commercial development opportunities.