Mac receives eight bids for former rubber plant development

The city of McMinnville exceeded its goals by receiving eight bids from developers for the former Ultimate RB property off Northeast Alpine Avenue.

The Request for Qualifications process closed Aug. 30 and while the eight respondents are much fewer than the 59 groups who initially expressed interest, it is higher than the goal of consultants to have at least five bids.

When the RFQ went out in July, project consultant Chris Zahas told the News Register it’s common to see more registrations than actual submittals and said receiving at least five submittals would be “fantastic.”

The responses are the start of a two-phase process to choose a developer for the project, which will turn the former industrial property into a mixed-use residential site. The city purchased the 3.5-acre property last October for $4.25 million and will sell it to the chosen developer late next year.

Community Development Director Heather Richards said the submittals will next be reviewed by a committee, which will chose three finalists to move on to the second phase.

“The review committee will be reading and scoring the proposals this week and meeting next week to discuss a final list for the next phase (not more than three),” Richards said in an email to members of the Urban Renewal advisory committee.

Phase 2 will be a “quasi-project concept review” where developers will conduct community engagement with the city and submit an executive summary of the planned project, a development program and schedule and concept designs, according to Richards.

After the second phase, a developer will be chosen and will work with the city on a development agreement, which could take between six months and a year. Once the agreement is finalized, the property will be sold to the developer, according to city staff.