City of North Bend release – NORTH BEND (August 10, 2021) – With the green light to make the final decisions regarding the purchase, the Urban Renewal Agency of North Bend (URA) is now in escrow to purchase the Coos County Annex and redevelop the site for a planned mid-rise housing complex. During Monday’s URA meeting, the Board approved a resolution to acquire the former courthouse annex and two large adjacent building lots for $125,000. In November, Coos County centralized its court proceedings in Coquille and closed its annex at 1975 McPherson Avenue in downtown North Bend. The annex sits on 1.33 acres next to North Bend City Hall at Virginia and McPherson avenues. The former Keizer Memorial Hospital building and the two building lots – .33 acres at 2040 Union Avenue and .23 acres at 885 Virginia Avenue – were fully appraised and purchased for less than their appraised value. “The URA’s goal is to demolish the blighted building and create a mixed-use project that will add housing units, enhance retail and commercial activity, and inspire additional investment in North Bend’s central downtown business district,” Board Chair Jessica Engelke said. “North Bend has a housing crisis that the pandemic has only compounded. This project will help put a dent in North Bend’s affordability problem while returning the property to the tax rolls.” To move forward with the redevelopment of the 54,000 square foot former Keizer Memorial Hospital building, the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office has requested the URA conduct some form of approved project mitigation given the significance of the structure in the history of North Bend. It cost about $60,000 to build the two-story hospital in 1923. Two years later, a new wing was added to increase bed capacity. Keizer Memorial in North Bend and McAuley Hospital in Coos Bay closed their doors on May 19, 1974, when Bay Area Hospital opened. Coos County purchased the former hospital in 1974, which has since housed court operations and other offices, including Coos Health & Wellness and the Assessor’s office. The state’s courtroom was the only function left when the county shuttered the facility at the height of the pandemic, citing increasing maintenance costs and building security concerns. Due to the age and prior use of the building, extensive environmental and hazardous materials testing was completed during the URA’s due diligence period. The URA will participate in Oregon’s Brownfields Program for reimbursement of remediation of environmental activities associated with the property, including asbestos, lead-based paint, and two fuel tanks that need to be remediated and closed per state rules.