How an Oregon TND has succeeded

This year sales in NorthWest Crossing, A 486-acre traditional neighborhood development (TND) in Bend, Oregon, are the highest they have ever been — even before the Great Recession. The community is on target to sell 107 houses in 2012, according to project general manager David Ford. A new phase of lots nearly sold out in early October in a single day, with 35 sales to approved builders.

NorthWest Crossing has generally outperformed the market throughout the real estate downtown. While most other projects in the region were dormant, NorthWest Crossing has increased sales every year from a low point of 18 sales in 2007. The median price is $372,950, well above the regional median of $190,000.

Bend, Oregon, a relatively fast-growing city of 77,000 on the high desert 175 miles from Portland, has attracted new residents and technology entrepreneurs who are looking for an alternative and active lifestyle.

Surveys show that buyers are attracted to the community design of NorthWest Crossing, which was well established as a TND, with a small mixed-use town center built, by the time the housing crash hit, Ford says. The location is advantageous — close to downtown on the east and adjacent to the urban growth boundary on the west. “There’s easy access to the outdoors and the activities such as hiking and mountain biking that people come to Bend to enjoy,” Ford says.

An elementary school and high school within the project’s boundaries attracted families with school-aged children in the early years of the project. In 2007, 58 percent of buyers had children in school, while 42 percent were single or empty nesters. That ratio has flipped now, with 58 percent single or empty nester buyers.

Event marketing helps

In 2008, after the slowest sales year, Ford switched marketing tactics. Advertising in traditional media was eliminated in favor of staging events. On the last Friday of June that year, NorthWest Crossing began hosting Hullabaloo, an annual free festival that attracted 10,000 people in 2012. A couple of blocks in the town center are cut off to traffic and a stage is set up with music, food venders, and other activities such as a bicycle race.

Throughout the summer months, every Saturday the development hosts the most popular farmer’s market in Bend — now with 50 venders.

These events drive people to NorthWest Crossing and boost sales, says Ford. “We have enough built now — it’s easy for to people to come here and say ‘wow, I like this.’ “

The most successful sales have been in single-family houses. An affordable senior living building also performed well. The project has other multifamily, townhouses, and live-work units. Several multifamily projects are in the works, targeted at the rental market.

The town center has been hard to keep filled with tenants. “This has suffered because of recession,” Ford says. “By virtue of the design, we are not going to attract national or even regional retailers. Most are local, and in some cases newbies.” The town center currently has restaurants, a wine bar, a bank, professional offices, salons, and a few other shops. The long-term goal is to get a grocery store. The urban growth boundary is being expended to the west, which may bring an additional 2,000 housing units beyond NorthWest Crossing, he says.