DMV Study: $1.5 Million to Fix Up Bend Office
More than a year after its effort to move Bend’s DMV office to a southwest Bend shopping center sparked sharp criticism from neighbors, city officials and others, eventually killing those plans, the state agency said Monday it’s determined it will cost an estimated $1.5 million in renovations to stay at its current Highway 97 site, the former Bend Welcome Center.
However, as it began scouting out other possible sites to lease, to make sure that’s the best option, DMV officials repeated their vow not to try again to move the office into a residential area.
DMV officials announced Monday they have completed the first phase of the agency?s feasibility study of DMV office possibilities in the Bend area, and are beginning phase 2.
?Our study shows that if we stay at the ODOT headquarters complex on Highway 97, it will cost about $1.5 million to refit the building and parking area to meet our customers’ needs,? said Tom McClellan, DMV administrator.
?To make sure that it?s worth spending that much money, we?re seeking information from commercial property owners for possible leasable buildings within properly zoned areas of Bend,” he added.
DMV?s leasing advisor, the state Department of Administrative Services, issued a public notice “hot sheet” Monday morning, requesting information on leasable office facilities in retail or commercial zoned areas within Bend.
As part of DMV?s promise to the community, DMV will not consider properties within residential areas. This phase will take about eight weeks to complete. DMV will seek public input if moving to a leased facility appears viable.
The feasibility study concluded that the building currently holding DMV offices on the ODOT Bend headquarters campus needs substantial work to provide the workspace DMV employees need to adequately serve Central Oregon citizens. DMV would have to move out while that work is done, and then move back again after the work is completed.
Asked what the projected costs entail, DMV spokesman Dave Thompson said, “All sorts of stuff — sttructural, roof, HVAC (heating-air conditioning).”
“The parking area is broken up and needs to be repaved — all sorts of stuff. adding up to close to $1 million worth of repairs just to the building,” Thompson said. “The rest is the cost of moving out and moving back in.”
The state owns the current building, sparing leasing costs — but the owner of a leased space would have to prepare it adequately at their expense, Thompson said.
“So the tradeoff becomes, what can we get, in terms of a lease, without having to pay refurbishing costs?” he said. “It totally depends on what the market will bear.”
Phase 2 will determine if other centrally located sites could be more cost-effective and able to open permanently for service faster than the current location.
?We thank the citizens of Bend for their patience and understanding while we complete this lengthy process,? McClellan said. ?We want to ensure we?re spending taxpayer money wisely.?
