BEND, OR -- Deschutes County is moving forward with plans to sell the former demolition landfill to OSU-Cascades for expansion of its existing Bend campus. County Commissioners agreed to a sale and purchase agreement Monday.
County property management specialist James Lewis explained the deal to Commissioners: "The sale price of the property would be $1. And, the $1 sale price is based on the fact that the estimated remediation cost is substantially more than the appraised value; to the tune of approximately $13 million." He said, after a letter of intent was signed by the county and university in August 2015, experts began researching how much it would cost to clean up the property. "They came up with a cost for remediation, an estimated cost of $43.3 million. During that same period, there were two appraisals that were done for the property – one by Oregon State University and one by the county. The higher of the two appraisals was $30 million. So, there was a $13.3 million gap between the estimated cost for remediation and the appraised value." The 72-acre site was used for the disposal of construction material and Commissioners said keeping it would soon create a liability for the county.
