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Franklin Crossing, on Bond Street and Franklin Avenue, has reserved nearly all of its office and retail lease space. Planned are new professional businesses, an athletic club, two new restaurants and multiple high-end retailers. Oliver Commercial Group, a Franklin Crossing developer, cannot name many of the expected tenants until the leases are finalized.
Nicole Barker / The Bulletin
High-end retail eyes Franklin site
Restaurants, athletic club are among pending leases
By Anna Sowa / The Bulletin
Published: August 16. 2006 4:00AM PSTShops will begin opening by Christmas at Franklin Crossing, the new high-end building that will house luxury condominiums and office, retail and restaurant space.
New tenants are starting to be announced as lease agreements are finalized, said Patrick Oliver, of Oliver Commercial Group, a Franklin Crossing developer. He expects leases to be signed for all 38,000 square feet of office space in the next 90 days and for all 38,000 square feet of retail space in the next six months.
The five-story, roughly $23 million building on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Bond Street is set to get occupancy permits by mid-September, Oliver said, and the top floor's condos will be ready for move-in by November.
Roughly 65 percent of the office space is taken, and 45 percent of the retail space is reserved, with more proposals pending, Oliver said.
Oliver could not name tenants that have outstanding leases with Franklin Crossing but provided an idea of what's to come:
* Cascade Capital Group, a merchant banking company, third floor.
* A new athletic club occupying 8,000 square feet on the third floor, including a full locker room, sauna, massage room, aerobics center and free-weight area.
* Morgan Stanley, an investment banker, fourth floor.
The third-floor office spaces will see more professional businesses, Oliver said, including architects and stock brokers. Businesses on the third floor facing Franklin and Bond will have private decks outside their offices.
Oliver said five other office leases are being finalized.
Retail interest has picked up in the last few weeks, he said.
"We didn't hit heavy marketing until four or five months ago," Oliver said. "But ever since we took the barricades down, the level of activity is overwhelming."
Among the unnamed retail additions:
* A high-end children's store.
* Two new restaurants.
* A high-end women's clothing and accessories store from Portland's trendy Pearl District.
Ground-floor retail space is leasing for $2.40 to $2.60 per square foot per month, he said. Second floor monthly lease space is around $1.85 per square foot. Third and fourth floor office space ranges from $1.55 to $1.75 per square foot.
The lease rates are not overpriced, given the building's above-average quality, said Steve Toomey, broker at Compass Commercial in Bend.
Average rents downtown are around $2 per square foot for retail space, said Compass Commercial's Brody Mape, citing data he researched on LoopNet, an online multiple-listings service.
Mape said Franklin Crossing will be good for downtown commerce.
"I like to see things that bring bodies downtown," he said. "And these residents will be big-ticket folks."
The eight condominiums sold from $481 per square foot to $636 per square foot, Oliver said. One-bedroom units facing east averaged $525 per square foot and two-bedroom units facing west and south averaged $625 per square foot. Condo sizes ranged from 1,100 square feet to 2,350 square feet. That means sale prices ranged from about $529,100 to $1.5 million.
Additionally, Franklin Crossing has 50 underground parking spaces for condo owners and office employees. The garage will not be open to the public.
Franklin Crossing broke ground in June 2005, Oliver said, and he expects to get occupancy permits by mid-September. Residents are expected to begin moving into the condos by Nov. 1.
Anna Sowa can be reached at 383-0304 or asowa@bendbulletin.com.
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