By Larry Glassock, SEDCOR President

Over the years, one element of a successful economic development effort has not changed – the need for land. When I speak about land, I mean land that is fairly flat, properly zoned, fully served with adequate water, sewer, storm drainage, telecommunications, gas and power, and free of impediments such as wetlands. Most importantly, is that it is available for sale or lease with an established price.

Since the establishment of Oregon’s Urban Growth Boundaries in the mid-1970’s, I am aware of only one significant boundary expansion for industrial land. That was the addition of 80-acres on Gaffin Road in Salem, in the mid-1980’s.

I want to strongly emphasize how important it is that land be available for sale or lease with an established price and adequate water and sewer service. With the sophistication in the site selection arena, potential users will not even look at sites without established prices or water and sewer services available.

It is difficult to maintain a running total of how much industrial land there is in Marion and Polk Counties.

Here are some of the variations:

• Is the property within an established city?

• Is the property within an Urban Growth Boundary?

• Is it property zoned?

• Is the property served with adequate sewer and water?

• Does the property have adequate transportation access?

• Is the property within a floodway or floodplain?

• Has a Wetlands delineation been completed?

• Is a Phase I environmental study available?

• Is the property divisible?

• Is the property available for sale or lease?

SEDCOR maintains a listing of available Industrial Lands that is updated regularly. It is posted on our website at

www.sedcor.com. The SEDCOR inventory does not contain 100% of the industrial lands available, as some owners or real estate brokers do not choose to place their properties on the listing. We believe our inventory does include the vast majority of lands. The land inventory on February 28, 2005, reflected 226-serviced acres and 373-unserved acres available in Marion and Polk Counties. This is simply not enough land, with a variety of sizes, to sustain a viable, changing economy in our area.

Zoning designations and allowable uses vary from city to city and county to county, so it is not a good idea to assume that an Industrial zone designation allows or is practical for a particular use. For instance, the City of Salem has an IC (Industrial-Commercial) zone designation. Properties zoned IC are priced for Commercial use, and therefore, are not economic for most industrial uses. Although SEDCOR lists IC land on its inventory, we do not count IC land as being available for industrial usage.

In order for cities to rationalize the need for additional industrial land within their Urban Growth Boundaries, the Land Conservation and Development Commission requires extensive analysis of the economic make-up of the region and a detailed inventory of industrial zoned and designated lands. It is important to note that this inventory includes lands not for sale or lease and therefore, mutates the conclusions.

In my 30 years of working with new and existing companies seeking land, these past five years have been the most challenging. Not only have many other cities outside of our area been more aggressive, but the available inventory of good land has diminished. Clearly, the net usable 518-acres at the Mill Creek Industrial Park will satisfy some of that need as it is serviced and becomes available over the years. We also support the efforts of Dallas and Woodburn (see pages 10 and 11) in their quest to expand the supply of industrial land in their cities.

New and existing companies need choices in sizes, configurations, location and prices. Competition is good for the industrial real estate business as it keeps prices in tune with the market. It also provides industrial recruiters like SEDCOR with ammunition to help us fulfill our mission.