KTVZ reported today on this bit of development news that I hadn’t heard about for awhile:

Construction crews are breaking ground on the Old Mill’s newest addition. A 35,000-square-foot grocery chain called Market of Choice will be constructed on a parcel of land between Colorado and Arizona avenues south of downtown Bend.

Developers also will put in two small commercial buildings for retail, restaurants and offices.

City officials told NewsChannel 21 they have approved a master plan to turn the Old Mill’s former crane shed site into a new four-story hotel and some other commercial buildings. However, that land is currently preserved as a historic site. City Planner Aaron Henson the developers are in the process of getting that designation removed.

The Bend Bulletin ran an article on this back in November with more details, for instance the Market of Choice store will occupy 2.6 acres of the lot across from Lava Road. The other 1.5 acres just east of it will hold the other business buildings.

So it’s really more on the outskirts of the Old Mill, between it and downtown, and I’ve been wondering for a while what if anything was going to happen to those lots (I’d forgotten about the earlier MoC news). Market of Choice is a Whole Foods-esque chain of boutique grocers over in the valley and southern Oregon, and should be a benefit to the downtown residential area even if it’s spendier than other stores.

No word yet on when construction will be complete, but now that they’ve broken ground I expect it could be open by the fall.